When it comes to the Rugby Championships, not many players boast more impressive records than South Africa fly-half Morne Steyn. In terms of overall records, the 31-year-old holds claim to the second-highest points racked up (348) in the competition's history, third-most penalties scored (77), second-highest conversion tally (41), and joint-most drop goals (4).
When picking out Steyn's best display during that run, look no further than on this day in 2009 when he produced a flawless performance to help the Springboks on their way to a 31-19 victory over New Zealand. The rivalry is intense, but this was an occasion all about one man as the Cape Town native scored all of his side's points at Kings Park.
By doing so, Steyn eclipsed the Tri-Nations record for the most points scored in a single game, which had been set by Andrew Mehrtens against Australia a decade prior. The match was supposed to be a celebration of a different kind for South Africa, with skipper John Smit becoming the most-capped captain of all time, while Jean de Villiers and Bryan Habana both reached the 50-Tests mark.
Steyn upstaged each of his teammates in a memorable fashion, however, powering the hosts to a convincing victory in Durban. In total, the Blue Bulls man was on target with all eight penalties, crossed over once and duly converted, before slotting the ball between the sticks once more with a drop-goal to round off the amazing achievement.
Having twisted his ankle a week prior, Steyn ensured that he left nothing out on the field from the early stages as he kicked over his first penalty inside just five minutes. The All Blacks raced into an early 10-3 lead, however, when lock Isaac Ross finished off a fine team move, but Steyn - in the side as a replacement for Ruan Pienaar - crossed over just before the interval to give the Boks a lead that they would not relinquish.
On top of his earlier pens, Steyn continued from where he left off in the second half by adding three more points to South Africa's lead from the boot and maintaining his imperious kicking record, with number eight and nine of the match - the latter taking him beyond Mehrtens's previous record.
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The Blue Bull did miss out on a perfect 10 when pushing a final kick wide of the upright late on, yet there was no denying who the real hero of the afternoon was as the 52,572-capacity crowd watched on.
Four years later and Steyn appeared to kick on when racking up 28 points of his own against Argentina in the newly-named Rugby Championship in Soweto, meaning that, in three of the top six matches for points scored by an individual, Steyn's name appears on the list.
Some players grow to love certain competitions, and for Steyn his place in Tri-Nations and Rugby Championship history appears to be there to stay.
South Africa: F Steyn; Pietersen, Fourie, De Villiers, Habana; M Steyn, Du Preez; Mtawarira, B du Plessis, Smit, Botha, Matfield, Brussow, Smith, Spies
Replacements: Ralepelle, Jannie du Plessis, Bekker, Rossouw, Januarie, Jacobs, Olivier
New Zealand: Muliaina; Rokocoko, Smith, Nonu, Sivivatu; Donald, Cowan; Woodcock, Hore, Franks, Thorn, Ross, Kaino, McCaw, So'oialo
Replacements: Mealamu, Afoa, Eaton, Read, Weepu, McAlister, Jane
Daniel Lewis
