Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has called for the inclusion of Frans Steyn in the national squad for the year-end tour to Europe.
Steyn, who currently plays for French club Montpellier, was a star player for the Springboks when De Villiers was coach between 2008 and 2011.
Steyn played the last of his 53 Tests in 2012, but De Villiers wants to see current coach Allister Coetzee call on the 2007 World Cup winner’s services.
“I would immediately go fetch Frans Steyn in France,” De Villiers told Afrikaans newspaper Rapport.
“He is Springbok rugby’s Sonny Bill Williams. Bring him back and make sure that he’s at his best. Frans offers you what a Juan Smith, Fourie du Preez and Schalk Burger gave the Boks when they were at their best. They challenged you as coach. Due to their unbelievable talent and knowledge, it’s tough to teach them something about the game.”
Other players De Villiers would like to see return to the Springbok fold are fullback Gio Aplon, flank Heinrich Brussow and lock Andries Bekker.
De Villiers said he was surprised that Brussow, who plays for the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes in Japan, was not called upon this year.
“He is the flank with the best skills in the world. He can do everything for you. You cannot do without him in a Springbok team, especially not as a ball fetcher.”
Bekker plays for the Kobelco Steelers in Japan, while Aplon is a star for Grenoble in the French Top 14.
De Villiers would add both the national squad set-up.
