Morne Steyn

Morné Steyn

Date of birth	11 July 1984 (1984-07-11) (age 27)
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Weight	90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb) [1]
School	Sand du Plessis
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Fly-half
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2003–present	Blue Bulls	91	(757)[2]
correct as of 10 March 2010.
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2005–present	Bulls	86	(933)
correct as of 29 May 2010.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2009–present	South Africa	34	(410)
correct as of 9 October 2011.

Morné Steyn (born 11 July 1984 in Cape Town) is a South African rugby union player who plays at the Flyhalf position. He plays at number 10 for the Springboks internationally, as well as for the Bulls in the Super 14^[3] and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He was member of the team that won the 2009 Super 14, ending the season as the leading point scorer,^[4] and setting a record of 4 drop goals in one single match, in the semifinal against the Crusaders^[5]

Steyn has won an U-21 World Cup, 2 Currie Cups, 3 Super rugby titles and 1 Tri-Nations.

South Africa

During early 2009, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers made no secret of preferring 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 and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when Pienaar's kicking game disintegrated. Steyn made a huge impression when he replaced Pienaar and immediately slotted two conversions and two penalties – including one from 53m out in the dying minutes of the game, which gave the Springboks the match and the series in dramatic fashion.

On 1 August 2009 the Springboks won their match vs New Zealand in the 2009 Tri Nations Series in Durban with a score of 31–19. Steyn scored all of South Africa's 31 points (8 penalty kicks and a converted try).^[6] This broke quite a few records, amongst them the record for the most points by an individual in a Tri Nations match – previously held by Andrew Mehrtens with his score of 29 against Australia in 1999 (One conversion and nine penalties). During this match Steyn also had one drop goal attempt come off the upright and pushed one more penalty wide of the posts. This was while earning his fifth Test cap and only his second start for the Springboks.

Morne Steyn scored the most points by an individual player in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he procured 62 points.

Records

• World record for most points scored by a player who has scored all their team's points (31).
• Most points scored against New Zealand (31) in a single test
• South African record for penalties in a test (8) – beating the seven achieved twice by former fullback and now kicking coach of South Africa, Percy Montgomery.
  • All of the above records achieved with his 31 points scored in the Tri Nations 2009 match against the All Blacks in Durban on 1 Aug 09^[7]
• South African record for most points in a test against Australia.
• Fastest 100 points by a Springbok (8 Test matches, 3 as replacement)^[8]
• Fastest 200 points by a Springbok (16 Test matches)
• Fastest 300 points by a Springbok (24 Test matches)
• Most drop-goals in a Super Rugby season (11).
• Most points scored against the All Blacks for a Springbok (31).
• Most points in a Tri Nations match (31).
• Most drop goals in a Super Rugby game (4) (in the 2009 Super 14 semi-final against the Crusaders)
• Most drop goals in Super Rugby (21)
• Most points in a Super Rugby season (263) – Beating Dan Carter's record of 221 set in 2006.
• Steyn also holds the record for most consecutive successful kicks at goal in Test play since statistics for that category were first kept in the late 1980s. He had a streak of 41 successful attempts that ended on 6 November 2010 against Ireland. The previous record was 36, held by Chris Paterson of Scotland.^[9][10]

Bulls

• Biggest points margin in a super 14 final (61–17)
• Biggest win in a Super Rugby match vs the Reds (92-3)
• The only franchise from South Africa to have won the Super Rugby trophy - and on three occasions

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Morne Steyn on SARugby.co.za
2. ^ http://www.thebulls.co.za/profiles.aspx?Id=183
3. ^ Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/player/0,20330,12556_315342,00.html#pp2. 
4. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Super_14_season
5. ^ http://www.sport24.co.za/Content/Rugby/Super14/354/6bda31af60cc450989b92ffe39d4a5b9/23-05-2009%2007-05/Steyn_sets_drop_goals_record
6. ^ "Steyn Leads Springboks to Tri-Nations Victory". New York Times. 2009-08-01. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/01/sports/sports-uk-rugby-tri.html. Retrieved 2009-08-11. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ Knowler, Richard (3 August 2009). "Steyn blots All Blacks' copybook". The Dominion Post. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/2712844/Steyn-blots-All-Blacks-copybook. Retrieved 26 October 2011. 
8. ^ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1125/1224259393401.html
9. ^ Griffiths, John (2010-09-13). "Morné Steyn's goal-kicking record, Tri-Nations clean-sweeps, Scottish captains and Shane Sullivan". Ask John. ESPN scrum. http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/123069.html. Retrieved 2010-10-18. 
10. ^ http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/BoksOnTour/Boks-withstand-Irish-onslaught-20101106

External links

• Morné Steyn at SARugby.co.za
• player profile on itsrugby.co.uk
• Stats @ Scrum

Persondata
Name	Steyn, Morne
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 July 1984
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Date of death
Place of death