| Full name | Steven Robert Sykes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1984-08-05)5 August 1984 (age 40) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Middelburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.97 m (6 ft5+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 106 kg (234 lb; 16 st 10 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Marlow Agricultural High School,Cradock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Steven Robert Sykes (born 5 August 1984 inMiddelburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa) is a South African formerrugby union player. He played forOyonnax in theFrenchTop 14.[1][2] His regular position was lock.
While still at school, Sykes represented Eastern Province at various youth tournaments. He played for them at primary school level at the 1997 Under-13 Craven Week competition and progressed through the youth sides to the Under-18Craven Week team in 2002.
In 2003, Sykes moved toDurban to join theSharks academy. He was also selected in the South African Under-19 side that played at theUnder 19 Rugby World Championship in 2003 and also represented the Sharks Under-20 side in the Under-20 Provincial Competition in 2003 and 2004.
He made his first class debut for theNatal Wildebeest (the name that the Sharks'Vodacom Cup side played under) during the2005 Vodacom Cup competition, coming on as an early substitute in a 43–0 victory over theBorder Bulldogs inDurban.[3] He started their next match against thePumas inWitbank[4] and remained in the starting line-up for the remainder of the competition.
He made hisCurrie Cup debut during the Qualification Round of the2005 Currie Cup, playing off the bench against theMighty Elephants.[5] The Sharks topped their section to qualify for the Premier Division. Sykes was once again involved, making his first Currie Cup start in the first match of the Premier Division and scoring a try after just 25 minutes to help the Sharks to a 55–17 victory over theLeopards,[6] eventually making five appearances in the competition.
He remained involved in both theVodacom Cup andCurrie Cup side in 2006, making a total of 22 appearances and contributing one try in their match againstGriquas.[7]
In 2007, Sykes became involved in theSuper Rugby side for the first time. He started their first three matches of the2007 Super 14 season – after his debut against theBulls in a 17–3 victory, he also played in their 22–9 victory over theWaratahs[8] and the 23–16 win over theHighlanders,[9] all three of those matches inDurban. However,Johan Ackermann returned for the remainder of the competition and Sykes made five starts for the Wildebeest in the2007 Vodacom Cup. We made fourteen appearances (or which thirteen were starts) in the2007 Currie Cup Premier Division, scoring tries againstGriquas[10] and theBlue Bulls.[11]
He started off 2008 playingVodacom Cup rugby and made three starts before being recalled to the squad for the2008 Super 14 season. He made eight appearances for the side and also scored his first Super Rugby try in a 47–25 victory over New Zealand side theChiefs.[12] He remained a key player for them in the Currie Cup, making thirteen appearances during the2008 Currie Cup Premier Division, helping the Sharks reach the final of the competition for the first time in 5 years. Steven Sykes played the first hour of the match as the Sharks ran out 14–9 winners against theBlue Bulls to win their first Currie Cup since 1996.[13]
Now firmly established as a first-choice lock for theSharks in Super Rugby, Sykes played in all thirteen of their matches during the2009 Super 14 season, starting twelve of those. He also got his best ever points haul during a competition, scoring four tries – one each against theBlues,[14] theCrusaders,[15] theHighlanders[16] and theBulls.[17]
The Super 14 season was followed by the2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, with Sykes involved on three occasions. Firstly, he played for the Sharks against theBritish & Irish Lions in their fourth tour match.[18] He also featured in a match between the Lions and anEmerging Springboks side, playing the first hour of a 13–13 draw inCape Town. He was then called into theSpringbok team for the third test, but he remained an unused substitute as the Lions ran out 28–9 winners.[19] Fifteen appearances followed in the2009 Currie Cup Premier Division as the Sharks failed to retain their title, losing to theFree State Cheetahs in the semi-final.
Sykes made a further thirteen appearances for the Sharks in the2010 Super 14 season and sixteen appearances in the2010 Currie Cup Premier Division, as they recaptured the title, beatingWestern Province 30–10 in the final in Durban.[20]
A further fifteen appearances followed during the2011 Super Rugby season, Sykes weighing in with tries against theForce[21] and theBrumbies[22] as they reached the play-offs before being eliminated by theCrusaders.
After seven-and-a-half years in Durban, Sykes signed a three-year contract with IrishPro12 andHeineken Cup sideLeinster.[23] However, he made just four appearances for theDublin-based side before returning to South Africa.[24]
He once returned to the Sharks, signing for them on a one-year contract.[25] He continued where he left off, making seventeen appearances for them during the2012 Super Rugby season – scoring two tries – and played in eight matches for theSharks in the2012 Currie Cup Premier Division.
During the 2012 season, it was announced that he would join theSouthern Kings for their first season ofSuper Rugby in2013, returning to the region he originally came from on a two-year deal.[26] He made his debut for theSouthern Kings in their historic first-ever Super Rugby match, helping them to a 22–10 victory against theForce inPort Elizabeth.[27] He scored one try for them in their 30–46 defeat to theHurricanes inWellington[28] and made a total of thirteen appearances. He also played in both legs of therelegation play-off series against theLions, scoring a try in the first match,[29] but could not prevent the Kings losing the series 42–44 on aggregate to lose their Super Rugby status for 2014.
Domestically, he made six starts for theEastern Province Kings during the2013 Currie Cup First Division season, scoring tries against thePumas,[30]Boland Cavaliers[31] andBorder Bulldogs[32] as the Kings reached the final of the competition, only to lose to the Pumas in Nelspruit.[33]
The EP Kings were promoted to the Premier Division of the Currie Cup for2014 following a decision bySARU to increase the division from six teams to eight.[34] Sykes was one of a number of players rested for the duration of the2014 Vodacom Cup in an attempt to get them to optimum conditioning for their Currie Cup campaign. However, this plan failed to work, with the Kings losing their first nine matches before winning their final match against fellow promoted side, thePumas.[35] Sykes made six starts in the competition before a knee injury ruled him out of the final stages of the competition.[36]
He was loaned to theCheetahs for the2015 Super Rugby season.[37] He was mainly used as a replacement for the first-choice lock pairing ofFrancois Uys andCarl Wegner, playing off the bench on no less than eleven occasions during the season, but he did start in three matches against New Zealand opposition – against theCrusaders,[38] and theChiefs[39] during their tour of New Zealand and against theHighlanders inBloemfontein.[40] Sykes scored a try in their 42–29 victory over theBulls inPretoria in their final match of the season,[41] but could not prevent the Cheetahs finish bottom of the South African Conference and 12th overall.
He returned to the Eastern Province Kings for their2015 Currie Cup Premier Division campaign. He made eight starts during the competition and scored a try in their Round Two match against his former side, theSharks.[42] He helped his side improve on their2014 record, winning two matches and finishing the season in seventh position.
As a result of the Eastern Province Kings' financial situation, all of their players were free to cancel their contracts and join other teams.[43] However, Sykes was one of the first batch of twenty players that signed a contract to playSuper Rugby in2016 for aSouthern Kings team whose operations were taken over by theSouth African Rugby Union.[44]
During the 2016 Super Rugby season, French sideOyonnax announced that Sykes would join them for the2016–17 season.[45]