The story of Jean Kleyn and his journey to becoming a World Cup winner is as good an example of 'grabbing an opportunity with both hands' as you will find.
Although the game changing international eligibility laws - which allowed Kleyn to switch back to his country of birth after representing Ireland - were brought in to aid Tier 2 nations, Kleyn and South Africa took advantage of them to great effect.
Jean Kleyn On Not Being Picked By Andy Farrell
Despite an incredible run form for Munster, Kleyn did not feature in any of Andy Farrell's Ireland squads before his call up to the Springboks.
And while he believed his international hopes were over, he bore no ill will towards Farrell, and described his mature outlook on the situation on the most recent episode of The Rugby Pod.
It was a great experience playing for Ireland, a massive honour.
And coaches changed and I obviously wasn't what Andy was looking for, which is fair enough. Every coach has a pick of what he wants and one guy is different from another.
Ireland's system is working fairly well for them at the moment, Andy's doing well, so I have no hard feelings about that.
But I had made peace with that fact that my international career was done.
READ HERE: Munster Solve Bok Lock Conundrum As Jean Kleyn Extends Contract
23 September 2023; Jean Kleyn of South Africa takes possession in a lineout during the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Kleyn also explained how he was still 'pissed' when the initial phone call from South Africa's Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, came through the morning after Munster's URC final win over the Stormers.
An incredible offer indeed. But, as Kleyn explains, it would be a risky move as it would make it much more difficult for Munster to keep him, with his Irish wife and young child to think of as well
"Basically, got the phone call off Rassie at 9am, unexpected to say the least. Spent the next few days sort of debating the pros and cons of it with my family," Kleyn explained.
"And off the bat you really want to say yes, but then you realise there's repercussions, and there's a lot of things that could have gone wrong since then but I've been really fortunate in the fact that everything has worked out for me this year.
"Just signed a new contract with Munster as well, which was probably one of the main worries that Munster wouldn't be able to keep me if I ended up leaving.
"Just after building a new house and have a ten month old child, I don't think my wife would have been too pleased if we had to ship out.
"But we said it was a risk we'd be willing to take and I'm incredibly blessed in the fact that it worked out."
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