Thomas Du Toit believes he’s in his prime as a prop and wants to play a bigger role in the Springboks’ success.
Du Toit gets a rare start for the Boks in the second Test against Italy in Gqeberha on Saturday. He packs down on the loosehead side, next to Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw.
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The 23-Test Bok says he looks forward to scrumming alongside Bulls strongman Louw.
“I feel that he’s playing his best rugby that I’ve seen him play for a very long time,” said the former Shark.
“He’s an incredible player and an unbelievable scrummager. I feel we both bettered our game over the last couple of years and it comes back to that old thing of props reaching their peak from 28 [years old] onwards, so I’m grateful that we could be part of it.”
Du Toit credits former Springbok assistant coach Johann van Graan for his versatility on both sides of the scrum.
“I’m very grateful for the fact that back at Bath, Johann gave me ample opportunities this season to play on both sides of the scrum,” said the man fondly known as ‘Thomas the Tank’.
“I feel very comfortable with it [playing loosehead and tighthead]. It’s a position I’m not uncomfortable with and it doesn’t faze me.”
Du Toit has been part of Bath’s resurgence this past season, where under van Graan’s leadership, the team has won the Premiership Rugby Cup, the English Premiership and the EPCR Challenge Cup.
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He says while his time at Bath hasn’t always been rosy, it has made him a better player.
“I’d say people grow in difficult circumstances. When you’re taken out of your comfort zone, it’s either sink or swim,” Du Toit said.
“When I went to Bath, I feel that it put me out of my comfort zone, but in a positive way. There was this realisation that I needed to lift my game to compete with the best.”
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
