'I'm delighted to be representing my country of birth,' says lock Kleyn ahead of his World Cup debut for the Boks

Jean Kleyn is a little surprised.

Not that he is at the Rugby World Cup, but at the short turn around it required for him to be in the green and gold of the Springboks.

He played five Tests for Ireland and will equal that number in a Bok jersey when they play Romania in a Pool B match here on Sunday.

He played all five of his Tests for Ireland in 2019 and was included in their RWC squad by then head coach Joe Schmidt. Andy Farrell, who took over after the RWC, invested in lock stock elsewhere.

His performances for Munster however have been stellar in the last season. Once RG Snyman returned from injury they made a hard to ignore second row combination.

Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber who coached Munster were well aware of his virtues in the second row when they called him up.

His knowledge of the Ireland mindset might also prove helpful as the two heavyweights fight for Pool B supremacy.

“It's a bit bizarre, they feel so detached from each other because so much time has passed, in my mind at least, since the 2019 World Cup,” Kleyn said about representing Ireland at the last RWC and the Springboks now.

“As a person I've grown so much and as a player I've developed quite a bit as well. For me intrinsically I'm not the same person I was in 2019, it almost feels like it was a different lifetime.”

Kleyn said he was honoured to have played for Ireland but “I'm delighted now to be representing my country of birth, South Africa, and it's an opportunity I really relish. It's a proud moment for me and my family to get my debut for South Africa at the World Cup. If you asked me three and a half months ago I would have said there's no chance, it's not even on the radar, so I'm delighted it's happened, it's an incredible opportunity.”

A top notch performance against Romania could help pave the way for his selection against Ireland next week.

“It's not something I've thought much about. You want to play against the best teams in the world and I think Ireland is one of the best teams in the world at the moment so I'd love to play against them. I've played against all of them throughout the years against Leinster and Ulster and Connacht, so I know the players well and I'm looking forward to the opportunity if it does present itself.”