During early 2009, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers made no secret of preferring Ruan Pienaar in the Springbok number 10 jersey despite Steyn performing very well in the Super 14 tournament.
 Steyn was on the replacement bench during the second Test of the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when Pienaar's kicking game disintegrated.
 Steyn made a huge impression when he replaced Pienaar and immediately slotted two conversions and two penalties – including one from 53m out in the dying minutes of the game, which gave the Springboks the match and the series in dramatic fashion.

On 1 August 2009 the Springboks won their match versus New Zealand in the 2009 Tri Nations Series in Durban with a score of 31–19.
Steyn scored all of South Africa's 31 points (8 penalty kicks and a converted try).
This broke quite a few records, amongst them the record for the most points by an individual in a Tri Nations match – previously held by Andrew Mehrtens with his score of 29 against Australia in 1999 (One conversion and nine penalties).
During this match Steyn also had one drop goal attempt come off the upright and pushed one more penalty wide of the posts.
This was while earning his fifth Test cap and only his second start for the Springboks.

Morne Steyn scored the most points by an individual player in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he procured 62 points.
During early 2009, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers made no secret of preferring Ruan Pienaar in the Springbok number 10 jersey despite Steyn performing very well in the Super 14 tournament.  Steyn was on the replacement bench during the second Test of the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when Pienaar's kicking game disintegrated.  Steyn made a huge impression when he replaced Pienaar and immediately slotted two conversions and two penalties – including one from 53m out in the dying minutes of the game, which gave the Springboks the match and the series in dramatic fashion.
On 1 August 2009 the Springboks won their match versus New Zealand in the 2009 Tri Nations Series in Durban with a score of 31–19. Steyn scored all of South Africa's 31 points (8 penalty kicks and a converted try). This broke quite a few records, amongst them the record for the most points by an individual in a Tri Nations match – previously held by Andrew Mehrtens with his score of 29 against Australia in 1999 (One conversion and nine penalties). During this match Steyn also had one drop goal attempt come off the upright and pushed one more penalty wide of the posts. This was while earning his fifth Test cap and only his second start for the Springboks.
Morne Steyn scored the most points by an individual player in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he procured 62 points.
Morné Steyn