Springboks great Steven Kitshoff has recalled the fiercely protective South African approach that resulted in a Parisian bar bust-up with Scotland’s Finn Russell and the comment that ignited their tempestuous rivalry with Ireland.
The 34-year-old double Rugby World Cup-winning prop retired from playing in 2025 due to injury and he is now promoting his autobiography, Kitsie: Memoir of a Bomb-Squad Bok.
Among the spicier vignettes in the book is his recall of an incident in France with Scottish No.10 Russell and also why South Africa’s rivalry flared up after a 2017 loss in Dublin. He also verified Eben Etzebeth’s claim that the Irish reacted arrogantly to them following a 2023 World Cup pool match in Dublin.
Appearing on the latest episode of The Counter Ruck, The Irish Times rugby podcast, show host Nathan Johns said: “One that really caught my eye was you guys were in Paris just before a November campaign. You bumped into Finn Russell and you were having drinks with him when he was playing with Racing.
“Walked into the bar after him and needs to be pulled away…”
“He picks up the drinks tab and he kind of makes a bit of a cheeky comment about how Scotland will tear through your defence in a few weeks when you are playing them or something like that… you guys took that incredibly personally.
“Was it Franco Mostert who walked into the bar after him and needs to be pulled away from Finn Russell as he made a comment about beating your defence in a few weeks? That’s wild in a bar in Paris.”
Kitshoff replied: “It is (wild) and it becomes extremely personal. We all respected Finn Russell because of the way he plays for Scotland, the way he plays his domestic rugby but making a comment like that, it becomes very personal and as soon as Franco told the story to Jacques Nienaber, everything was pointed at Finn.
“Like, Finn was going to be the guy that normally was able to play in a suit; he’s going to be on the floor all the time, and the result of that comment made him play a bad game because he was a couple of seconds late every time there was a rush defence on it.
“It’s just the way that as soon as something happens, we just find a way to make it as extremely personal as possible, and that was actually a great story.
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“Just to add onto that, the comment was one thing, but it was how he treated Handre (Pollard) as well and we didn’t like that. That was the thing that pushed us over the edge to not try to beat the guy up; that’s not the way. It was just having a word with him, but it was how he was speaking to Handre Pollard; that’s the thing that we didn’t like at all.”
Having defeated Scotland in July in the home leg of the Nations Championship, the Springboks are set to face Ireland in Dublin on November 21. Kitshoff recalled how his country’s tasty rivalry with the Irish heated up after a 3-38 loss in Dublin nine years ago.
“How well Ireland have played over the last five or six years, it’s definitely part of the rivalry,” he said. “You play against a team like Scotland or Italy, you end up beating them nine out of 10 times. With Ireland, you never know.
“And Ireland, the way their rugby has grown, Leinster, Munster, the way the domestic teams play in URC, there is a big rivalry between Stormers-Leinster or Bulls-Munster; it’s becoming a personal thing there as well. That all translates into international rugby as well.
“And then there was a game that I would never forget, 2017, just before Rassie (Erasmus) took over in 2018, where we played against Ireland in Dublin and lost and the broadcasters said this Springbok team has lost their physical edge because Ireland were beating us physically as well.
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“That (clip) was the first thing Rassie played when he joined the Springboks in 2018 and said no team will ever say this about the Springboks again. That was one of the starting points of this rivalry between Ireland and South Africa because losing the physical edge… that one comment put everyone over the edge and it just became a thing.”
Kitshoff also touched on the post-match exchanges in 2023 that Etzebeth, South Africa’s record caps holder, described as arrogance after the Irish had won a World Cup pool match. “As we were shaking hands and walking through as we normally do, there was just a couple of guys who said we’ll see you in the final, we’ll see you in the final.
“I know Peter O’Mahony has spoken about it; I know Eben has spoken about it. It was just something that caught me by surprise. Of course that was the next time we were going to see them; if we were to play them again it was in the final. But it might have been the fact that they were thinking if we make it all the way we’ll see you in the final, or maybe it was just a bit of arrogance. To be honest, it caught me by surprise.
“I didn’t think much of it afterwards, but it was something that was crazy to hear. It was crazy to hear in a round-robin game of the World Cup, or pool stage game, and you talk about finals, that caught me a bit off surprise.”
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Front-rower Kitshoff spent a season at Irish side Ulster after the Springboks won the 2023 World Cup. Despite having a contract that was for two years with the option of one more, the deal was ripped up at the end of the 2023/24 season, and it resulted in the South African finishing his career back at the Stormers.
“With the coach and CEO leaving and Ulster being in a tough situation at that time, they made a big change and I was the ninth or 10th guy on the chopping block,” he explained. “A lot of these key guys, a lot of experienced senior players were all starting to leave the club and I was just a guy that followed them.
“Maybe in a rebuild phase they were trying to get young blood in at a bit of a cheaper price. I would have loved to stay another year or two, I had another year on my contract and then a plus one. We enjoyed living in Belfast, it was amazing. The people were so friendly but unfortunately due to the club and myself and the coaching staff, it was not meant to be so we made a clean exit.
“It was tough coming from a Springbok environment and into the Ulster locker room and having that same mentality that you have at the Springboks because the guys don’t operate at that South African level.
“The ability to adapt for me was quite tough, those 15 games I played for Ulster it was tough to get it out of me because I was coming for this extreme high where everything was made personal, the way that Felix (Jones), Rassie and them spoke to us, the drive that we had as a group.
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“Coming into an Ulster camp, much more relaxed. Of course, there is a passion for the team and for the club but it would probably have taken me another six months just to start embracing it but it was that first four, five months almost felt like I was demotivated to do anything because of the extreme change in environments.
“I unfortunately didn’t adapt well at Ulster, I really struggled. Motivation was a big thing for me… you always see a drop-off from players when they go back to their unions because it’s just such a much longer season, there’s not much IP put into each game as when it comes to Test matches.
“It’s unsustainable, your body would break with the physical training that you do during the week to simulate Test match rugby, and URC is not close to that. It’s just not sustainable mentally.
“You come back from a four-week Springbok tour, you are mentally drained. You almost feel sick, you struggle to get out of bed, you just feel drained because of the intensity you went through in those four weeks. It’s not sustainable.”
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