This is not a new problem for the talented 27-year-old Rugby star, but it seems that Monday dealt the final straw for him and he, bravely, stood by his principles and quit.

According to Times Live, Frans Steyn has been in battle with SARU over image rights payments for some time as the Rugby union has not honoured the terms of his contract.

His image rights have been owned by a third party since he joined French club Racing Metro in 2009 – a standard practice for high- profile sports stars.

When Steyn returned to South Africa in 2012 he was awarded a Springbok contract with a specific understanding that the use of his image rights would take place under licence from the third party. Payments were to be made separately and directly to the party by Saru, but that was not honoured.

John Smit has commented that the Sharks maintain a good relationship with Steyn as they dealt with this issue up-front upon signing the contract.

This is a pretty big faux pas on SARU’s part and no amount of bland statements will cover up the fact that they have driven off an extremely talented and coveted player.

Steyn has retreated to his farm with his family to cool off but we have no doubt he will have a few words when he returns. This is a very brave decision but it also means he is losing out on as much as R2 million.

Stand by your principles, we say!

In other Springbok drama, in case you missed it, check out this video of Francois Hougard and Morne Steyn.

[source: Times Live]