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One of the constant themes of this year in Springbok rugby has been the massive focus on Steyn – both when he is included in the team and when he is left out.
On Tuesday his return for Zane Kirchner was the only change to the side that beat Ireland 23-21, and predictably he was what both the local and travelling South African media seemed to want to focus on above all else.
The 23-year-old has been the subject of so much media debate and so much speculation that he gives the impression he has become sick of it.
“How did I get to be here (with the Boks) this time? I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore,” he said.
“The South African Rugby Union spoke to the club, I got a ticket and flew here on Sunday and that is all I know and want to know."
"I just want to play the game, and to get the green and gold jersey back is fantastic.
“Being away makes you realize how much you want to play for your country and what an honour it is. This match will be my 40th test cap and I am looking forward to it with the same excitement that I would be if it was my first.”
Steyn was emphatic that he did not want to be the middle man anymore in the ongoing drama which has also involved national coach Peter de Villiers, Steyn’s agent and the officials at his French club, Racing Metro.
“I suppose at 23 now and having been on my own in France now for a while I have done some growing up. And the one thing I have realized is that I must not be the middle man in the drama over whether or not I should be with the Boks.
It’s not my fight. I am a professional rugby player and it is hard enough having to focus on doing that job to the best of my ability without getting involved in off-field stuff.”
Steyn said he had stated his intentions to national teams manager Andy Marinos when Marinos travelled to France to speak to the club last month.
"It was said that I did not want to be with the Boks anymore, every time I got angry and said something I was the one who got hammered in the papers, no-one else."
"So I said 'you guys talk, I don't care where I go or what I do. I just don't want to be in the spotlight, I want to play the game'."
