Steven Kitshoff interview: South Africa encourages us to go abroad – unlike England

The furore surrounding the exodus of English players to France is one that appears to be lost on Steven Kitshoff, the latest of South Africa’s World Cup winning squad to play his club rugby overseas.

Kitshoff’s decision to join Ulster after the World Cup takes the number of overseas-based players in the Springboks’ 23-man squad that defeated New Zealand in the final to 16. One of them – his captain Siya Kolisi – is now at Racing 92, the Irish province’s Champions Cup opponents at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday.

Such a free-market selection policy is in stark contrast to the English game, where any players based outside of the country have not been eligible for England selection since the implementation of a strict policy between the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby in 2011.

That policy is currently being stress-tested like never before given the lucrative draw for young English players to play in France and Japan, with 21-year-old Henry Arundell the latest player to turn his back on international rugby after signing a new contract extension with Racing that will keep him in France until 2026.

Kitshoff, who now has two World Cup winners’ medals having also played in the 2019 tournament, is well-placed to witness the benefits of playing abroad, having interrupted his 10-year spell with the Stormers by spending two seasons in France with Bordeaux-Bègles, and now starting a new chapter in Belfast.

And while the RFU policy is to protect the integrity of the Premiership, the 31-year-old says South Africa takes the contrary view, valuing the benefit of sending their best talent overseas.

“It’s been good for the Boks, getting success with almost half the guys playing abroad, learning different styles of rugby, taking that knowledge and bringing it into the Bok camp and everyone grows from that,” said Kitshoff, who has won 83 caps for South Africa.

“It is also difficult in South Africa with just four professional teams like Ireland has, who can only contract 50 to 55 guys, and after 10 years I almost felt like I was taking a young player’s position away from him. He would play three games while I was away with the Boks, and then he would just be kicked out again when I came back.

“So having 200 South Africans playing abroad opens up so much space for our young talent to come through and actually develop as rugby players, and when they leave to go abroad, the next group of young players comes through.

“So I think it just gives you a bigger talent to pick from but also allows guys to leave their family homes, learn new cultures, meet new people, work with new styles of coaches and expand their personal game as well. There is a bigger upside to it than a downside.”

Kitshoff revealed that he consulted with Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks’ director of rugby, before signing a three-year deal with Ulster.

“He was very supportive of the idea,” added Kitshoff. “I think he has got a good understanding of the Irish clubs having worked in Ireland for a couple of years at Munster and also Jacques [Nienaber, the former South African head coach], being here now with Leinster.”

It is now a well-trodden path from South Africa to Belfast, with the word-of-mouth recommendations from previous players such as Ruan Pienaar, Marcell Coetzee and Duane Vermeulen acting as invaluable recruitment sergeants.

It is a two-way street however. Kitshoff’s recruitment by Dan McFarland, the Ulster head coach, was in part to bolster his side’s scrummaging prowess but also to help develop the next generation of props at the province. Kitshoff has made just three appearances for his new province following a break after South Africa’s emotional World Cup victory tour.

He has been on the losing side on each occasion, and despite featuring in an impressive Ulster front five, their scrum creaked worryingly in their opening Champions Cup defeat by Bath at The Rec. His message is simple: the honeymoon period is over.

“It takes a bit of time, but I do see myself as a leader in scrums and I have got years of experience in international rugby and playing over 130 games for the Stormers so it is a big part of my game and I know it has not been great over the last three weeks but I am looking forward to it getting better as the season goes on,” he added.

“I always say you can lose a couple of scrum penalties in the round robin but when it comes to the knockout, you want to win all your scrums. I would rather take the shots now and improve and become a dominant scrum.

“I had a good chat with Dan this week. I didn’t want to step on any toes in the first couple of weeks but we had a really good session on Tuesday and a big improvement in our mentality. We did way more live scrummaging than we had done in the previous three weeks. There’s a lot of factors that influence a good scrummaging performance. You have to tick all those boxes to make sure you do that.

“Everyone has been so friendly here, the coaches, the players and the fans have been awesome, but it is back to the grind now. It is not about being a double world champion but now being an Ulsterman and performing the best I can.”