Kleyn's 'bizzare' test rugby journey sees him face familiar faces 

TWO DISTINCT CHAPTERS: Jean Kleyn personal journey in Test rugby has been a “bizarre” one but that the two distinct chapters felt very distinct from the other but it’s one where others continue to join the dots. Pic: ©INPHO/SteveHaagSports/Steve Haag

Two rounds of the pool stages have come and gone at this Rugby World Cup and the apparently random means by which some players are called to account for dangerous tackles while others aren’t is utterly embedded.

The sense on Sunday was that Jean Kleyn was lucky to concede just the penalty for his tackle on Romanian lock Adrian Motoc in Bordeaux but the hours since have ticked by with nothing in the way of reproach for the South African lock from those up high.

There was no malice in the incident but the ad hoc application of the laws are frustrating even if this free pass does at least leave open the door for one of the tournament’s more unusual happenings in that Kleyn may now face his ‘former country’ this weekend.

The Springbok lock admitted prior to the Romania game that his personal journey in Test rugby has been a “bizarre” one but that the two distinct chapters felt very distinct from the other but it’s one where others continue to join the dots.

“To be honest, as I said in the week, the two are quite detached for me,” he explained. “I was a different person back then. I was much younger and paid a lot more heed to what other people were saying than I do now, especially the media.

“That had a big influence on me then, now I play the game for me and for my people and for my family and for my teammates. It’s a completely separate event for me. It was massive pride to represent Ireland back then and now it’s a massive opportunity to represent my country of birth, which is fantastic for me and my family.” 

Kleyn was speaking in the mixed zone in Bordeaux after the Pool B tie and such is the nature of these things, with journalists coming and going all the time, that he found himself having to repeat the same answers to the same questions about his Irish experience.

There was a clear air of exasperation as he digested all this but he was polite to a fault and duly went over what for him is increasingly old ground. Come Saturday evening and all this “outside noise”, as he calls it, can be put to bed for good.

He played five times for Ireland, the last of them coming at the World Cup four years ago, and even his superb form for a Munster side that captured a URC title earlier this year wasn’t enough to earn him a first call-up under Andy Farrell.

That seemed to be that in terms of his World Cup story and Test aspirations until the Springboks came calling late in the day. He played four times for South Africa before the tournament and made his second ‘bow’ in the big event itself in Bordeaux.

It has all happened so fast and so unexpectedly that he could only chuckle when asked if this Saturday’s meeting with Ireland and so many familiar faces was one he had been circling in the calendar for some time.

“Up until about four weeks ago I was literally circling the next day. No, it is a big opportunity but I see it as more of a big opportunity for South Africa, for the Springboks. I’m at the stage where I put personal victories aside.

“The Springboks are a much more important thing to me than my personal battles. If I am lucky enough to be selected I would love to play and to do the country proud. If I’m not then I will help get the rest of the guys prepped so they have the best chance to play well against Ireland.” 

If the queries about his days playing under Joe Schmidt are getting tiresome then picking his brains on Ireland as a team and as an opponent are completely valid given not just his days with the team but his time at Munster.

He knows Ireland, its players and its drivers.

“They are an incredibly clinical team. That’s one thing about the Irish, they have incredible attention to detail.

"Guys like Johnny [Sexton] and Pete [O'Mahony] would be quite serious about driving the detail and just not making the small mistakes. Next week will be a big challenge for us and for them as well. Hopefully we can put up a good performance and come out on top.”