The 22-year-old will arrive flush with confidence after dazzling fans and team-mates alike with an astonishing place-kicking performance in South Africa’s 32-29 win against New Zealand on Saturday.

Steyn, who has a three-year deal with Racing, slotted three massive first-half penalties, with the distances recorded at 60m, 58m and 53m. His efforts helped secure the Tri-Nations title for the Springboks and also earned him widespread praise, including from his grateful captain John Smit.

Top 14 Table 2009/10 / Top 14 try and point scorers 2009/10 / Top 14 Transfers / Top 14 Fixtures 2009/10 /

“He’s not a goal kicker, he’s a rocket launcher,” said Smit. “I told him before we went out tonight that he had to make sure he has a memorable game so that everyone misses him. Gee, he did that,” added the triumphant skipper.

Steyn has a habit for breaking records having already become the youngest World Cup winner in 2007 – aged 19. He still harbours hopes of continuing to play for the Springboks during his French sojourn, but Smit’s comments appear to confirm that the versatile 22-year-old will struggle to hold down a regular place following his move to Europe.

Although they have no official policy for not selecting players based outside South Africa – unlike New Zealand and Australia – it is clear that three years in France could hamper his chances.

Steyn is expected in Paris by September 20^th and could be in line to make his debut the following weekend when Racing play host to Montpellier. His arrival will certainly provide a timely boost for Pierre Berbizier’s side after they slipped into the relegation zone on Saturday following their third successive defeat.

Frustratingly for the coach they narrowly missed out on a deserved defensive bonus when Clermont’s Brock James landed the last of his six penalties in injury time – again accentuating the importance of a reliable kicker.

Veteran All Blacks fly-half Andrew Mehrtens has been performing kicking duties of late for Racing – especially after Jonathan Wisniewski’s injury – with full-back Fabien Fortassin chipping in with half a dozen drop-goals.

Where Steyn will fit in remains to be seen, with the chunky Springbok capable of playing anywhere between 15-10. His arrival follows those of fellow summer signings Lionel Nallet and Sebastien Chabal as Racing seek to consolidate their presence in Top 14 after running away with the ProD2 championship last season.

They may be second bottom at present, but Top 14 looks like being a congested division this season and there are three points currently between Racing and sixth-placed Castres. That points to an intriguing season ahead, where every single penalty, drop-goal and conversion could have potentially huge significance come the end of the campaign.

And the good news for Berbizier – apart from the imminent arrival of Steyn – is that Racing are coming to the end of a tricky opening period to their season, with next week’s trip to Castres their fifth away game in their first seven league matches.

The strangely lopsided nature of their fixtures then reverses, with six of their subsequent eight games being played at home in Top 14.

Meanwhile, city rivals Stade Francais were relaxing at the end of a testing week following their 44-18 home win against previously unbeaten Castres.

Sacked coach Ewen McKenzie must have looked on with envy as the pink brigade ran in four tries to take their season’s points total to 190 from just six games. The difference this time was that they only conceded one in return, although McKenzie must have allowed himself a wry smile when new head coach Jacques Delmas said afterwards that they had done “nothing different”.

He added: “We’ve continued to work along the same lines as our predecessors. Things just went much better for us today. The players took risks. Despite that we weren’t able to kill the match off quickly because each time we scored we gave them points again straight away.”

That was certainly the case in the first half as Stade struggled to a 16-15 lead, but Delmas’ team then went on a scoring spree after the break, racking up 23 points in 20 minutes as the seized the game by the scruff of its neck, Tries from Sylvain Marconnet, Mirco Bergamasco, James Haskell and Julien Arias also earned them an attacking bonus, while South African fly-half Noel Oelschig weighed in with 22 points.

The win lifted Stade out of the relegation zone and up to ninth, and they have the chance to make further progress next weekend when they welcome cash-strapped Bourgoin to the capital. Another bonus point win could lift them up into the play-off places, underlining once more that Top 14 could be a heading for a thrillingly close season this time out, although Bourgoin’s 17-6 downing of champions Perpignan should caution against complacency.