Stephen Steyn

{{Short description|Scotland international rugby union player}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Stephen Steyn | image = | caption = | birth_name = {{nowrap|Stephanus Sebastian Leonard Steyn}} | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1889|11|10}} | birth_place = Moorreesburg, Cape Colony | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1917|12|8|1889|11|10}} | death_place = | height = | weight = | position = | repteam1 = {{nrut|Scotland}} | repyears1 = 1911-12 | repcaps1 = | reppoints1 = | repupdate = | years1 = | apps1 = | points1 = | provinceyears1 = | provinceapps1 = | province1 = | provincepoints1 = | amatteam1 = Oxford University RFC | amatyears1 = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | occupation = Junior doctor | school = Diocesan College | university = University College, Oxford }}

Lt. '''Stephanus Sebastian Leonard Steyn''' (10 November 1889 – 8 December 1917) was a Scottish-South African rugby union player and British Army officer who was killed in World War I.<ref name="touch">{{cite book |last1=McCrery |first1=Nigel |title=Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War |date=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=9781781590874 |pages=200–201 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMo7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Bath1>Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p. 109. (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 {{ISBN|1-905326-24-6}})</ref>

Steyn was born in Moorreesburg, Cape Colony to Margaret Fraser Dobie Steyn of Dunbar and physician Gabriel Hendrik Steyn,<ref>{{cite web |title=Gabriel Hendrik Steyn: 1861.06.12 - 1907.02.16 |url=https://www.steyn.pro/family/genealogy/steyn/johannes/1861-06-12.htm |website=www.steyn.pro}}</ref> who was a cousin of Martinus Theunis Steyn, President of the Orange Free State. Steyn was educated at Diocesan College, Rondebosch and University College, Oxford, where he studied medicine as a Rhodes scholar.<ref name="touch"/> He played for Oxford University RFC and was capped for {{nrut|Scotland}} in 1911–12.<ref name=Bath1/> He was part of the Oxford team that won a surprise victory over South Africa, reportedly owing to Steyn and fellow South African Lennox Broster's knowledge of Afrikaans, which helped them understood everything the rival team was saying. He continued his medical training at Guy's Hospital in London.<ref name="touch"/>

He was killed on 8 December 1917, aged 28, while serving with the Royal Field Artillery. He is buried at the Jerusalem War Cemetery.<ref>{{cwgc|name=Stephanus Sebastian Leonard Steyn|access-date=24 June 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.scotsman.com/sport/an-entire-team-wiped-out-by-the-great-war-1-768537 "An entire team wiped out by the Great War"]. ''The Scotsman'', 6 November 2009

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steyn, Stephen}} Category:1889 births Category:1917 deaths Category:Afrikaans-speaking people Category:Alumni of University College, Oxford Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British military personnel killed in World War I Category:Royal Field Artillery officers Category:Rugby union players from Moorreesburg Category:Scotland international rugby union players Category:Scottish people of Dutch descent Category:Scottish rugby union players Category:South African people of Scottish descent Category:South African Rhodes Scholars Category:South African rugby union players Category:Rugby union wings Category:Oxford University RFC players Category:Guy's Hospital RFC players Category:Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town