Kyle Steyn on URC semi-final: Warriors will fight fire with fire in physical battle

South African Kyle Steyn’s stature in the Scotland rugby team was underlined when he was given a standing ovation at Murrayfield last November as he left the field injured against New Zealand after a brilliant performance.

He is even more popular in his hometown of Glasgow, where his mother was born, to give her son an open door to play for Scotland.

Steyn, the captain of the Warriors, was key to his team beating the Bulls in the 2024 final in Pretoria, and last week he played a pivotal role in his side beating tricky Connacht to advance to Saturday’s semi-final against the Bulls in Edinburgh.

Last week at the Warriors’ Scotstoun stadium, the 32-year-old product of Trinityhouse High School in Johannesburg returned from injury to score two tries and make a try-scoring tackle to settle the spoils for his side.

But the final will not be at the intimidating Scotstoun ground, an absolute fortress for the Warriors, but at Murrayfield, which is 10 times the size of the 7000-seater stadium in Glasgow.

The Warriors are unbeaten at Scotstoun this season, and Bulls fans have seized on the movement of the semi-final to the Scotland national stadium as a huge boost for their team, but Steyn disagrees.

“I’m not really too bothered about how the Bulls see it, to be honest,” he said. “A lot of our guys have played at Murrayfield for the national team, and love the ground.

“The challenge is going to be there wherever the match is held. We’ve come up against the Bulls twice this season, and they’ve both been really physical, tight games, and we’re expecting nothing less.

“They are a team that thrives on physicality, and we’re just excited to see what we can bring to that area, and how we rise to that challenge at home.”

Steyn says the team that dominates the forward exchanges will have an inside track to victory.

“The set-piece battle is huge, the kicking game is going to be massive, and then just the physicality up front — they pride themselves on that, we pride ourselves on that. That’s what you get when you get two teams that really want to stamp their mark on that area.

“The intensity of the collision on both sides of the ball just goes up a notch, then you add the fact that it’s a semi-final, and that’s the way those games go.

“We’re not underestimating it in any way, but we’re really focused on how we’re going to bring that level of intensity to our game.”

Both teams will name their lineups for Saturday on Friday, with Steyn leading a side boosted by the return of Scotland centre Huw Jones.