At the start of the 2011 Super Rugby campaign, the Stormers, in need of props, turned to 18-year-old greenhorn Steven Kitshoff to provide a solution to their immediate problem. The youngster, still fresh out of that great Stellenbosch rugby nursery Paul Roos Gymnasium, wasn't automatically eligible to play. The Stormers needed permission from the International Rugby Board and from Kitshoff's parents.They all signed off, and Kitshoff was included in the Stormers squad. But he had to wait until round 13 against the Chiefs in Hamilton for his debut.At the time Kitshoff was recruited, there were many dissenting voices cautioning that an 18-year-old prop could be seriously injured against seasoned front-row veterans.But Stormers coach Allister Coetzee and forwards coach Matt Proudfoot knew that they had a rare talent, and so did Frans van Niekerk, who was director of rugby at Paul Roos."He has the physical attributes and the emotional maturity to play Super Rugby. He's one of the strongest boys I've ever worked with," Van Niekerk told Times Media in January 2011.story_article_left1Four years, a Junior World Championship gold medal and 56 Super Rugby caps later, Kitshoff has blossomed into a devastating prop, now on the cusp of Springbok selection. Not even a move to play for Bordeaux in France at the end of the 2015 season has curbed his belief he will play test rugby for the Boks."It's my biggest dream to play for the Boks, but I'm still going to France," Kitshoff says. "Even if I don't earn a Bok cap this year, I don't believe going to France will jeopardise my future test chances."The Springbok selectors will always pick the best players, so if I keep performing, regardless of where I'm playing, then I will have a chance of making the Bok side. I want to be in the Rugby World Cup squad.""Steven was allowed to find his feet and work alongside experienced pros when he joined us as an 18-year-old," Proudfoot says. "But after a while we chucked him into a full contact session and some senior players really got stuck into him."Steven didn't shy away and competed hard. We knew we had made the right decision because he displayed a high emotional intelligence."Kitshoff became a regular Stormers starter in 2012 and has made the No 1 jersey his own. But a serious knee injury last May ended his season. The 2015 version of Kitshoff seems more mature and destructive."He's improved his bind and also changed his angle on attack on the tighthead in scrums," Proudfoot says. "He scrums slightly up and in, which puts pressure on the tighthead. That improvement is also down to his improved flexibility and now he is both accurate and dominant."He's started to realise how good he can be and his game has taken off. In general play his ruck and his tackle involvement has shot through the roof.story_article_right2"We needed him to be a more devastating ball-carrier and also to be the first or second guy hitting rucks, not the third, like he had been in the past. He's listened and worked."At first glance Kitshoff has a typically prop-like demeanour - stoic and grim. But that's not what his teammates see."When Steven came into the squad he was quiet and reserved but now he's more confident and is one of the jokers in the team," Proudfoot says."He has a dry sense of humour and is always the guy who will make a wry remark and then chuckle to himself for 10 minutes about it."He could be laughing all the way to London and the Rugby World Cup this year.sports@timesmedia.co.za..