Heinrich Diederick Steyl (born 6 July 1990 in Bellville, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, who most recently played with the Pumas.[1] His regular position is fullback or winger.
Full name | Heinrich Diederick Steyl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 6 July 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Bellville, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 82 kg (12 st 13 lb; 181 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Boland Agricultural High School, Paarl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | Stellenbosch University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In 2008, he was a member of the Western Province Under-18 squad that played at the Academy Week tournament. In 2011, he was part of the Western Province U21 squad that lost in the semi-finals of the 2011 Under-21 Provincial Championship. Steyl scored four tries during the competition, including braces in their matches against the Leopards U21[2] and against eventual champions the Blue Bulls U21.[3] He also won an award for the most promising Under-21 player at the union's end-of-season awards ceremony.[4]
He was included in the Western Province squad for the 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division competition. He was named on the bench for their match against the Free State Cheetahs on 24 September 2011 and made an appearance from the bench in the second half to make his first class debut.[5] A week later, on 1 October 2011, he was named as a run-on player for their match against the Sharks in Durban for his first senior start.[6] However, he suffered a broken leg during the match and was ruled out for the season.[7] Despite being named in their squad for the 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division,[1] he failed to make any further appearances for the Cape Town-based side.
In 2013, Steyl had a short spell in Pretoria with the Blue Bulls, where he made two appearances for them during the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition. However, he failed to make an impact and returned to the Western Cape where he joined club side Durbanville-Bellville for a few months.
He then moved to Spain, where he played for División de Honor side Ordizia for the 2013–14 season. He helped them to sixth place in the competition, before they lost in the quarter-finals to CR Cisneros.[8] Steyl scored 185 points during his season at the club to finish sixth in the overall points scoring charts.[9]
He returned to South Africa after the 2013–14 División de Honor de Rugby to join Nelspruit-based side the Pumas prior to the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division season.[10]
He was a member of the Pumas side that won the Vodacom Cup for the first time in 2015, beating Western Province 24–7 in the final.[11] Steyl made three appearances during the season, scoring two tries.