How a Rassie phonecall changed Kleyn's life again

The 29-year-old only played twice for the Springboks, he was able to take his opportunity to shine to the fullest, impressing with his physicality and work-rate in the team’s two best performances this year.

Fri, 11 Aug, 2023 - 07:35

Ken Borland

South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is known for his ability to make a sale, but two phone calls from the former Munster head have been enough to change the life of Jean Kleyn, who now stands poised to become one of the first players to represent two different countries at a Rugby World Cup.

In 2016, Erasmus had just joined Munster as director of rugby when he phoned Kleyn, who had been a talented, if injury-prone, up-and-coming star for the Stormers, and headhunted the physical lock for the Irish province. The former Springbok flank had been the head of the Stormers team while Kleyn was coming through the ranks.

As soon as he had served his residency period, Kleyn was called up to the Ireland national squad for the warm-up games before the 2019 World Cup and he played a couple of matches in the showpiece tournament in Japan.

South Africa, who won the 2019 tournament, named their World Cup squad this week and, lo and behold, Kleyn was included in something of a surprise selection. He only returned to the Springbok fold a couple of months ago due to the change in World Rugby’s eligibility rules, allowing players to return and represent their country of birth. Again, it was thanks to an Erasmus phone call.

The new ‘birthright transfer’ regulation – which came into force at the start of 2022 – allows for players to be selected for their country of birth (or of their parents’ or grandparents’ birth) once a period of at least 36 months has elapsed since their last selection for an adopted country.

“When Rassie went to Munster in 2016, he phoned me saying he was looking for a tighthead lock,” Kleyn told the Irish Examiner shortly after the announcement of the Springboks’ World Cup squad in Johannesburg, the city of his birth.

“I was 22 years old, I had no ties at the time in terms of family and I took the chance. Three years later I was in the Ireland squad and I’ve now been with Munster for seven years. I have one year left on my contract, but I hope to stay longer. I have an Irish wife and we have a six-month-old baby.

“To be honest, I never thought a return to South Africa was on the cards, I didn’t think I would be playing in the 2023 World Cup because I haven’t been involved with the Ireland team for years. So it was a bit of a shock when Rassie phoned me again at the end of May asking me if I wanted to be part of the Springbok training squad.

“From that day I started to think about another World Cup, but I’ve tried to focus on just doing my best, I’ve devoted the last two months to try and get into that squad. The World Cup is the be-all and end-all in rugby, it’s an incredible honour to be selected again and I’m just delighted,” Kleyn said.

Although the 29-year-old only played twice for the Springboks, he was able to take his opportunity to shine to the fullest, impressing with his physicality and work-rate in the team’s two best performances this year – the wins over Australia in Pretoria and Argentina in Buenos Aires.

“I said from the start of the Springbok camp that I will just do my best and play my own game. I was not trying to do anything different, I was just being me.

“Thankfully I did well enough and I’m delighted how it has worked out, I’m very blessed. I will represent South Africa proudly, it is the country of my birth, my home country and it will always be that,” Kleyn said.

Kleyn’s ‘own game’ would appear to be completely in tune with the Springboks’ modus operandi under Erasmus and head coach Jacques Nienaber, who will join Leinster after the World Cup, having previously worked with Erasmus at Munster as defence coach.

“I’ll be doing the same job as for Munster and Ireland, just in a different jersey. It’s all about contact, hitting rucks and making tackles. Scrummaging is also massively important, and maul defence. These are the big things I’ll be measured on. I just try to be contact-dominant in as many of my phases as I can be,” Kleyn explained.

The 6ft 8 Kleyn, the owner of five Ireland caps, possibly owes his selection to Lood de Jager’s mysterious chest ailment and will almost certainly be the back-up to Eben Etzebeth in the number four jersey.

But Erasmus and Nienaber have shown a keen eye for selecting the right players as they have renovated Springbok rugby, and Kleyn’s performances for Munster in winning the United Rugby Championship show he is a player who will not be daunted by the challenge.