Kyle Steyn is set to end an injury-plagued year away from international rugby in Scotland’s clash Fiji on Saturday.
After taking part in last summer’s four-Test tour of the Americas, the Glasgow captain picked up two separate untimely injuries just before the Autumn Series and then the Six Nations.
The 31-year-old wing has fully recovered from his respective ankle and knee problems and, after a largely experimental side kicked off the South Pacific tour with a win over Maori All Blacks in last Saturday’s non-cap international in Whangarei, Steyn could start at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, a prospect which leaves him “chomping at the bit”.
First session in Suva 🇫🇯✅#AsOne pic.twitter.com/PJZPngsDEt
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) July 7, 2025
“Jeez, almost coming up on a year,” he said. “It’s been some year, man.
“If you’d told me a year ago that I’d have to wait another year, I wouldn’t have believed you.
“But, yeah, just chomping at the bit, to be honest, after seeing the autumn and the Six Nations and the boys that are doing so well with the (British and Irish) Lions and the boys that played on the weekend. I just can’t wait.
“To pick up an injury the week before both is kind of funny to look back on now, because the odds on that can’t be much.
“But then I think Cammy Redpath was saying he had a pretty similar case this season, so you’re never alone.
“I was gutted with how it’d gone, but that’s just the way the game goes.
“And at Glasgow, I think we all learned this year that injuries happen, so many of our boys seemed to pick up big injuries somewhere along the way. All those boys have bounced back really well, so I’m just kind of trying to follow in their stead and really looking forward to Saturday.”
Steyn is familiar with Fiji players and described the prospect of taking them on in their own back yard as “insane”.
He said: “We’ve spoken before the tour about what goals we have and what we were looking forward to. I think being in Scotland at Glasgow and Edinburgh, we’ve all had loads of Fijian team-mates and they’re the kind of team-mates that you’re just drawn to straight away because of the way they play the game.
“In terms of playing the game tough but fair, there aren’t people that do it more so than the Fijians.
“Just their sense of community and what it means for them to play at home.
“All those guys, when they come to the end of the season and you’re talking about what they’re going to do in the summer, if they’ve got Pacific Nations and they’re playing teams in Fiji, they’re just massively excited for those games.”
Steyn says a positive result would be “huge” for the Scots.
He said: “A lot’s been said already about the World Cup draw at the back end of the year and how important these games are from that standpoint.
“But the last time we were here in 2017, we lost.
“There were guys that played that game and spoke about how tough it was.
“With the group we’ve got, there’s a lot of experience but also a lot of fresh energy.
“This is a massive challenge to come to a place like this with where those guys are going to be emotionally in front of their people on Saturday.
“It’d be really, really awesome to pick up a win here.”
