Simnikiwe Xabanisa: Thomas Castaignede once said the rugby gods must have been looking down on Francois Steyn's cot.

The former French international was emphasising the physical gifts, pace, power and skill with which the then-teenager came ready equipped to Test rugby.

Judging by the reaction to the news that Steyn has resolved his issues with the SA Rugby Union - if not with Peter de Villiers - we hold "Frans" in similarly high esteem.

The general sentiment was that the Springboks' World Cup defence was as good as saved by this piece of news.

But are we a touch obsessed with the idea of Steyn's talent, to the detriment of a clearer analysis of his output as a player?

Steyn has always been a player of outrageous ability with an inability to express that talent consistently.

Sure, he's won a Currie Cup, a Tri-Nations and a World Cup, but Steyn could never be accused of putting together an entirely good season.

Heroic games are often offset by average efforts and, for all his decorations and ability, one gets the impression that he has never kicked on from that phenomenal start in international rugby.

He still makes the same mistakes he made four years ago, and whether he is a flyhalf, a centre or a fullback is as undecided as it was in 2007.

The Springbok management team has earmarked fullback as the position in which they need him because of that massive boot.

But it's a logic based on the Boks trying to win back the Webb Ellis Trophy using a game plan that will be two years old, when the Sharks have shown that South African players can play the so-called new game played by the All Blacks.

Make no mistake, with Steyn in the team the Boks will play virtually all of their rugby at the World Cup in the opposition's 22.

But one hopes they won't neglect the fact that other teams are favouring faster and more skilful fullbacks to the Marty Roebucks we boast currently (Gio Aplon excepted).

On a personal level, Steyn appears to be a young man who offends easily, if his "disrespect" comments about Saru missing the appointment to see him and his French club, Racing Metro, are anything to go by.

This makes him a pretty miserable git for a guy who's one of the richest players in the world at 23.

Strangely enough, it's a quality of his I've always loved on the field, especially when things were going awry for the team.

He would take that as a personal affront, at which point he would commit to doing something outrageous - like nailing a dropped-goal or penalty from the parking lot - to save the day.

But, with a head coach like De Villiers, with whom he has an obvious beef, team harmony is not guaranteed at the World Cup.

Of course, De Villiers could be adult about the whole thing, but that's a story for another day.

To be sure, Steyn is a must for the World Cup. But to view him as some kind of saviour would be a mistake.

If you don't believe that, think back to the Boks' last two Tri-Nations games.