Frans Steyn made the jump from high school rugby (at Grey College in Bloemfontein) to the green and gold jumper of the Springboks in the space of a year.
Steyn is an enigmatic, once-in-a-generation type player, but not everyone is as gifted as the Bloemfontein boytjie.
Some players have to take the long road to the top and now in his new role as head coach at the Cheetahs, Steyn is looking for exactly those types of players to help his side get back to where they believe they belong.
Varsity Cup option
In his search for upcoming talent, Steyn has added the Varsity Cup as an option to try to build his side with the Cheetahs’ most impressive acquisition this year being Ntokozo Makhaza, the former UCT Ikey winger who impressed so much during his time at the Green Mile that he was called up to a Springbok alignment camp by head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Frans Steyn believes with the current structures of the competitions in the South African rugby ecosystem, the importance of the Varsity Cup will only continue to grow.
“With the junior competitions we have at the moment – like the under 20s – I think the Varsity Cup will even get bigger,” Steyn said.
“There’s going to be a lot of players that’s going to sit without opportunities, like the unions won’t be able to carry players as long.
“It’s massive at the moment, for us, the Cheetahs, we really focus on the Varsity Cup and the guys in the Varsity Cup.
“We want a lot of that talent that’s there. It takes them a while to get through. Like Mackie, Makhaza, who hasn’t played a lot.”
Minor injuries
According to Frans Steyn, Makhaza has had some trouble with minor injuries as well as the current wingers Michael Annies and Cohen Jasper.
“He has been struggling with a little bit of niggles here and there,” Steyn said about Makhaza.
“But Prince (Nkabinde, former UJ wing) was the same. Neels Volschenk (former Shimlas loose forward) was the same when he just arrived and it just takes them a bit of time to adapt.
“But then look at Prince now and Neels, all the guys that we contracted over the last couple of years have really come through nicely.”
The transition between Varsity rugby and the next level, which when playing for the Cheetahs could be the Currie Cup, SA Cup or EPCR Challenge Cup, is still big, according to Steyn.
“It takes them a couple of months,” he explained.
“It’s just physicality-wise, it’s another level up.
“You go from schoolboy to, say, Young Guns and then from Young Guns to the Cup and then from there it’s a little bump up. You need to adapt. It’s just a little bit harder than normal.”
Talent and hard work is prevalent
Despite the massive jump in skill level, the talent and hard work is prevalent in all the players that come through the ranks and end up at the Cheetahs.
“All of them, we haven’t had trouble with any of them,” Frans Steyn said.
“All the guys we contracted are hard-working and have the right attitude, so we’re very happy with that.
“They get proper coaching at Varsity Cup level as well so, when they get to us, they’re really professional. They look after themselves.”
The professionalism of the Varsity Cup has increased exponentially over the years. It has more eyes on it than ever before and this is aided by the fact that almost every match is televised, this has incentivised playing for a senior professional contract from one of the unions in the country.
“It’s because the Varsity Cup is well-broadcast,” Steyn explained.
