‘I’ll probably wake up when it’s all said and done and think: ‘was that a dream or did that actually happen’?’
Jean Kleyn at South Africa squad training at Stade des Fauvettes in Paris. 'It’s been a fantastic journey for me. It’s been brilliant to have been part of the squad.' Photograph: Inpho/Steve Haag Sports/Steve Haag
Then, at 22, he relocated to Munster and in his refreshingly honest way revealed his ambition to play for Ireland via the eligibility ruling. Kleyn made his Irish debut in a warm-up game against Italy prior to Japan 2019, and played against England and Wales, before Joe Schmidt picked him in Ireland’s World Cup squad.
“I’ll probably wake up when it’s all said and done, and think: ‘was that a dream or did that actually happen?’ It was outside of the realms of thinking,” he admitted with a smile. “You always try and get the lads you know,” admitted Kleyn with a wry smile. “It’s just one of those things. If you know someone a little bit better you always go a little bit out of your way just to see if you can get one over on them. I think me and RG got a good clear out on Tadhg once.
“She was very embarrassed because she has this thing where whenever she sees herself on TV, she ducks down. Actually, the exact same thing happened to her at the URC final. She ended up becoming a meme there – ‘You tell your boss you’re at work or you’re sick but you go the URC final’ or something like that.
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