[LOOK] Kleyn mag train: Ex-Ireland lock cleared for Springbok duty ahead of Wallabies Test opener
|Published
Higher Honours: Munster’s Jean Kleyn.Picture credit: Ben Brady
Former Ireland international lock Jean Kleyn has officially been cleared for Springbok duty ahead of South Africa’s first Rugby Championship clash against Australia on July 8.
The 29-year-old Kleyn, who played the last of his five Tests for Ireland at the 2019 World Cup, can now play for the Springboks after meeting the “birthright transfer” requirements.
His eligibility is music to the ears to those at SA Rugby, with South Africa facing Six Nations champions Ireland in Pool B in the World Cup in France later this year.
Jean Kleyn has been cleared to play for the #Springboks - more here: https://t.co/7ZvH78huIr 🔒#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/PpHRRomFdd
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 23, 2023
Director of rugby in SA, Rassie Erasmus, who coached Kleyn at the Stormers and Munster in Ireland, says: “His international experience increases our depth at lock while at the same time boosting the experience in the squad, in a year in which every match is vital in our preparations for the World Cup.”
The Boks, meanwhile, finished their two-week camp in Pretoria over the weekend, with head coach Jacques Nienaber adding: “Things are coming together nicely. The intensity of our training sessions is good and it’s pleasing to see how we are progressing.
“We had a good base to build from thanks to the camps earlier in the season, and we’ve built on that steadily since getting together.
“We also started zooming into the Tests against Australia and New Zealand this week because it’s vital that we are well prepared going into those Test matches and have a good Rugby Championship campaign before entering our Rugby World Cup warm-up matches and the global spectacle itself later in the season.”