Morné Steyn, (born 11 July 1984) is a South African former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played as a fly-half for the Bulls and played for the South Africa national team, up until his retirement from international test rugby in October 2021. Steyn has won an Under-21 World Cup, three Currie Cups, three Super Rugby titles, one Super Rugby unlocked, one Tri-Nations, one French Top 14 title and is the only player in history to win two British and Irish Lions series as part of the hosting side.

Playing career

With the Bulls, he was a member of the team that won

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In 2009 and 2010, he was the leading point scorer in the league. In the 2009 semi-final against the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, he kicked four drop goals, a league record for a single game. From 2013 to 2020, he played in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

for

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

. He made his debut on 30 August 2013 in a 38–3 win over

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

. Coming on in the 60th minute, he scored four points by converting two tries.

South Africa

In early 2009, South Africa coach Peter de Villiers stated his preference for Ruan Pienaar in the Springbok number 10 jersey despite Steyn performing very well in the Super 14 tournament. Steyn was on the replacement bench during the second Test of the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when Pienaar's kicking game disintegrated. Steyn replaced Pienaar and immediately slotted two conversions and two penalties – including one from in the dying minutes of the game, which gave the Springboks the match and the series in dramatic fashion. On 1 August 2009, South Africa beat New Zealand 31–19 in their 2009 Tri Nations Series match in Durban. On only his fifth cap and his second start, Steyn scored all of the Springboks' 31 points (8 penalty kicks, as well as converting his own try). This broke several records, among them the record for the most points by an individual in a Tri Nations match, previously held by

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national ...

with his 29 points against Australia in 1999 (one conversion and nine penalties). Steyn scored the most points by a player at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

, 62 points. In August 2021, having not played for South Africa since 2016, he was selected as a substitute for the deciding third test against the British & Irish Lions. He replaced

Handré Pollard Handré Pollard (born 11 March 1994) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and in the United Rugby Championship. His regular playing pos ...

in the second half, and, as he had in 2009, kicked two late penalties to help South Africa win the game and the series.

Honours

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

(2) 2006, 2009 *

runner up (2) 2005, 2008 *

(3) 2007, 2009, 2010 * Super Rugby Unlocked (1) * Pro 14 Rainbow Cup runner up *

(1) *

EPCR Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

(1): 2017 * The Rugby Championship (1) * British and Irish Lions Tours (2) 2009, 2021

References

External links

*
Profile on itsrugby.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steyn, Morne Living people 1984 births South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Cape Town Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Stade Français Paris players Afrikaner people South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players