Jean Kleyn (born 26 August 1993) is a South African-born Irish professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player, currently playing for Irish

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

side

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. He has represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

after qualifying through residency as a 'project player'. Kleyn was born and grew up in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and qualified for Ireland through residency. His regular position is

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

Youth rugby

Kleyn first played provincial rugby for the s during the

2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions. Competition Division A There were seven participating teams in the 201 ...

, also being promoted to the side in the same season, as well as in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. He picked up two winner's medals, with Western Province ending both the

and

2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

seasons as champions. Despite playing regularly for the senior side in 2014, he made a further three appearances in the

2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2014 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Grou ...

Western Province / Stormers

Despite being named in the

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

squads, Kleyn never made an appearance, suffering a knee injury in 2013 and an ankle injury in 2014. Kleyn was included in the squad for the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

. Despite missing the early part of the season with his ankle injury, Kleyn recovered to be named in the starting line-up for their match against the in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, but ended on the losing side as the home team won 28–12. A further three appearances off the bench followed in May 2014. In the second half of 2014, Kleyn was a key player for in the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

, starting ten matches during the season. The final two of his starts came in their 31–23 semi-final victory over the and the final, in which Kleyn played the entire 80 minutes, helping his side to a 19–16 victory over the to win his first senior trophy. Kleyn established himself as a regular in the Stormers squad during the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

, appearing in thirteen of their seventeen matches, including five starts. He helped the Stormers finish top of the South African Conference, and also played in their

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against the , a match won by the Australian visitors to eliminate the Stormers from the competition. He once again was a key player for a Western Province team attempting to retain their Currie Cup title in the 2015 competition, playing in all twelve matches, of which he started eleven. The team finished third on the log and Kleyn started their 23–18 victory over the in the semi-final and the final, where his side could not emulate their 2014 result, losing 24–32 to the . Kleyn suffered an arm injury in a warm-up match against the prior to the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

, which ruled him out of the start of the competition. During the international break, Kleyn started two matches for Western Province in the

2016 Currie Cup qualification The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...

series, the first of those being a match against the during which Kleyn scored his first try in senior rugby, scoring ten minutes from time to help his side to a 43–34 victory. He was included in the Stormers touring squad for their trip to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to face the and the , but failed to be included in their matchday squad. He eventually made his only appearance of the season in their 52–24 victory over the in their final match of the regular season.

Munster

Kleyn secured an early release from his contract with in July 2016, leaving South Africa to join Irish

side

on a three-year contract prior to the

2016–17 Pro12 The 2016–17 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the seventh with a four-country format. It was the ...

season. On 3 September 2016, Kleyn made his competitive debut for Munster when he came on as a substitute against

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

in the sides opening 2016–17 Pro12 fixture. On 17 September 2016, Kleyn scored his first try for Munster in their 20–16 away win against Welsh side

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Rodney Parade Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's cen ...

. The match was also his first start for the province. On 17 February 2017, it was announced that Kleyn had been ruled out for 8–10 weeks due to a neck injury. The injury was sustained during the

fixture against Dragons on 10 February. On 1 September 2017, in what was his return to competitive action following the aforementioned neck injury, Kleyn scored two tries in Munster's win against Benetton in Round 1 of the

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as th ...

. Kleyn scored a try and won the

Man-of-the-Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in Munster's 21–16 win against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

on 16 September 2017. Kleyn was nominated for the 2018 Munster Rugby Player of the Year award in April 2018. He signed a three-year contract extension with Munster in September 2018. Kleyn was ruled out for six weeks after undergoing surgery for a thumb injury in November 2018. He returned from the injury in Munster's

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

fixture against

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

on 21 December 2018. Kleyn earned his 50th cap for Munster in their 26–17 win against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

on 29 December 2018. Kleyn signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in January 2022. He earned his 100th cap for Munster in their 34–17 away win against Italian side

Zebre Parma Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

in round 11 of the

2021–22 United Rugby Championship The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, ...

on 29 January 2022. Kleyn was selected in the

dream team following his performances for Munster during that season.

Ireland

Kleyn qualified through residency to play for

on 8 August 2019, and was selected in Joe Schmidt's 44–man training squad for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. He made his debut for Ireland in their 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 10 August 2019, starting in the 29–10 win, and was selected in the 31-man Ireland squad for the

, starting in Ireland's 35–0 win against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

before featuring off the bench in the 47–5 win against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

in Ireland's final pool game,

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Correct as of 12 October 2019Jean Kleyn
''ESPN Scrum'', 3 October 2019

Honours

Individual

*United Rugby Championship dream team: **Selected (1): 2021–22

References

External links

Munster ProfileURC Profile
*
Ireland Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleyn, Jean Living people 1993 births People from Krugersdorp Rugby union players from Gauteng South African rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Munster Rugby players South African expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland South African expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union locks