Springbok star Frans Steyn says his immediate future lies at full back, but not for long.
The 22-year-old South African moved to France to join Racing Metro last week and has already talked about losing his tag as a utility back.
Steyn, who was the Boks’ youngest World Cup winner at just 19, has started Test matches at fly-half, full back, centre and wing since his debut against Ireland in 2006.
And, having featured at full back in the summer series against the Lions, Steyn says he expects to wear the No15 shirt during the early stages of his new career in Europe.
"The easiest for me would be to start at fullback,” suggested Steyn,
”Because for the moment I don’t know all the combinations or the calls."
But despite his desire to begin his French adventure as the last line of defence, Steyn has made no secret of his desire to move infield sooner rather than later.
The former Sharks prodigy has stated that he sees his long-term club and international future at No12 and that he intends to impress his new coaches enough to earn a shot at inside centre.
"As soon as I’ve started to master the call, I’d like to move to inside centre,” added Steyn.
"That said, it’s a little premature to start talking like that. I’ll play wherever they ask me to play, it’s not up to me to ask whatever I want.
"I don’t want them to treat me any differently from the others – and I know that first of all I have to win the respect of the coaches and my team-mates.
"But I prefer being closer to the action. I love contact and, as I am still quite young, my body is physically capable of recovering quite quickly.
"I’ll have all the time to play at fullback later in my career."
