The heart of Boks lock Kleyn says Scotland but his mind says Ireland

Boks lock Jean Kleyn may have played five Tests for Ireland in 2019 but he will be hoping Scotland gets the rub of the green when the teams clash in Paris on Saturday. 

Kleyn is not the only Springbok hoping Scotland will deny Ireland log points in that clash as that would see the defending champions top pool B in the Rugby World Cup. 

Hope and reality, however, are often poles apart and Kleyn concedes Ireland, who have won their past eight Tests against Scotland, are favourites. 

“We’re probably going to see Ireland win, but just because the Irish beat us last week I’d say I’d like to see Scotland win,” said Kleyn with a chuckle. 

“Realistically, we’ll probably see Ireland come out victorious. They’re a good team.” 

Still, he expects it to be a tough encounter, especially given the rivalry between the two rugby nations. 

“There’s a high level of attrition. There’s a bit of animosity between the Irish and the Scots and there always has been, especially from a rugby perspective.  

“At club level, you look at teams such as Munster and Glasgow, there’s always been this underlying — I wouldn’t call it hatred — but there’s a bit of knife in the back. 

“There’s a real combative thing about it. For Ireland and Scotland [in Test matches], it’s even more so. It’s magnified at international level. 

“Everything is a bit closer to the bone and everything is a little bit more real. It’s going to be a serious match.” 

That match, like all the major matches in this tournament, kicks off at 9pm local time.  

It is late in the day by any measure and some players find it a challenge maintaining their focus throughout the day. 

“It’s just a case of not switching on too early,” advised Kleyn.  

“You wake up, have breakfast, go out for a cup of coffee or have a walk around — do something with your morning to break up the day. 

“The last day we only started at two o’clock. Two o’clock start to a day, you’ve got a lot of time to burn before that. 

“I don’t think there’s a lot of nervous energy, the guys deal with it each in their own way. It would be better to have a seven o’clock or a five o’clock [start] so you can get it over and done with, but I don’t mind it.” 

What has helped is the Boks are a tight knit group. Provincial rivalries are set aside but teammates always bond better and that is the case for Kleyn and fellow Munster lock RG Snyman. 

Snyman is back in the game this year having missed most of the past few years with injury, while personal loss also added emotional trauma. 

“He had repeated ACL [injuries] which is a death sentence to most rugby players. In that time he had family loss, which was terrible, and the accident with the fire as well. He went through an incredibly tough time. 

“He’s a good friend of mine. I can’t tell you how impressed I was with his outlook on life. He was always positive, always tried to add — even though he was two years out of rugby.  

“If you speak to anyone at Munster they will give you testament to the impact he has had at the club and he’s only played 10 games or so, most of them this season. 

“He’s as headstrong a guy as I have ever met and probably will ever meet. Credit to him, he went though absolute war and came out on top.” 

Kleyn said Snyman's impact at the tail end of the past season was there for all to see. 

“Without him we wouldn’t have seen the result we saw because he was instrumental in all the games leading up to and in the final. 

“You can see that as well in being called up to the Springboks after virtually not playing rugby for three years. That takes some doing.”