In Cape Town
- Munster’s South African-born lock Jean Kleyn said too much has been made of the Stormers’ celebratory video of making the United Rugby Championship final.
- The clip that went viral also saw Stormers hooker Joseph Dweba mouth off expletives.
- Kleyn said they would have celebrated as vigorously if they had the honour of hosting a final.
Munster’s South African-born lock Jean Kleyn says too much is being made of a Stormers video that, two weekends ago, saw them celebrate hosting Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final at Cape Town Stadium.
Munster gave the Stormers every reason to celebrate when they beat Leinster 16-15 in the URC semi-finals in Dublin on 13 May, ensuring that the final would again be hosted in Cape Town.
A tweeted video of the Stormers celebrating Munster’s win – they would have travelled to Dublin for a final against Leinster had the result gone the other way – almost immediately made its way onto social media after the final whistle, with hooker Joseph Dweba heard mouthing off expletives.
The video was quickly taken down, but its cause and effects have remained a talking point in press conferences ahead of Saturday’s grand showpiece game.
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Kleyn, a product of the Stormers before leaving in 2016, said that while the context of when and where the video was taken needed to be understood, a statement of that nature cannot be retracted.
“They were a few beers in after the game and things were said, but you can’t back down after a statement like that,” said Kleyn.
“We’re very much up for the battle, so we’ll see what happens on Saturday.
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“We’re prepping ourselves to do our best and perform at our highest level and I don’t think there’s anything to be said about that video.”
The 29-year-old Kleyn, who went to Hoerskool Linden in Johannesburg before moving down to Stellenbosch to further his rugby, said he didn’t see the video.
However, he said they would have celebrated as vigorously if they were in the Stormers’ boat of hosting a final.
“I didn’t actually see the video. I don’t tend to go looking for those kinds of things and they don’t tend to come across my path,” Kleyn said.
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“I heard a lot about it though, but any team that would be in a position to get a home final would be delighted with that outcome.
“Whatever that was said and happened in the video, I’m not sure, but if the roles were reversed, we’d be delighted as well.
“I think it’s a lot of puff because any team getting a home final when you initially had Leinster away seems pretty good.”
