Pieter-Steph du Toit: Already one of the all-time great Springboks

10/04/2024 03:52 AM

Based on current form, there are probably not enough words to suitably describe just how good Pieter-Steph du Toit has been for the Springboks.

According to former Springbok coaches Jacques Nienaber and Heyneke Meyer, he stands head and shoulders above anyone else as the best blindside flanker on the planet.

Du Toit's former Junior Bok coach Dawie Theron echoed the admiration: "I really only have one word for him: phenomenal. He will one day be remembered as one of South Africa's great legends,” Theron commented when talking to Sunday newspaper Rapport.

To unpack it a bit further, it’s almost gone unnoticed that Du Toit has now reached 84 Test caps, and within the next couple of years, he will undoubtedly become the next Springbok centurion.

And if not for the litany of Tests he has missed due to injury, the multi-talented forward would have surely been challenging Eben Etzebeth to be the most-capped Springbok.

It can’t be forgotten that at the start of Du Toit’s career, he was plagued by knee injuries, and it only took a medical miracle of sorts for him to be able to feature at the 2015 World Cup.

Over the next few years he would become a mainstay in the Springbok team, ultimately going on to produce an iconic performance in the triumphant 2019 World Cup final.

He was deservedly named the World Rugby Player of the Year in 2019, but at the start of the next year, he suffered another serious leg injury that developed into acute compartment syndrome that almost resulted in an amputation.

By the end of 2020, barring six games in Super Rugby earlier in the year, Du Toit missed four seasons out of eight because of a brutal catalogue of injuries between his breakthrough senior year in 2012 to 2019.

Du Toit has had left and right ankle surgery, two knee operations, a cracked sternum and an acute compartment syndrome, which nearly cost him his left leg earlier. At the time, he was only the 43rd person in recorded medical history to have suffered this condition.

However, he made another miraculous recovery, although it also can’t be forgotten how he suffered another serious shoulder injury in the second Test against the British & Irish Lions, ruling him out for the rest of the 2021 season.

Since then, though, Du Toit has been able to enjoy an incredible run of fitness and form – featuring in 26 Tests between 2022 and 2024 (to date).

During this time, he delivered yet another performance for the ages in the 2023 World Cup final, while he has taken his game to almost limitless heights.

More to come for Springbok star Pieter-Steph du Toit

The versatile forward has just turned 32-years-old, but when considering his conditioning, fitness and work rate, there is every chance he could make it to the next World Cup if he is well managed.

Knowing his importance to the Springboks, there is no doubt that the national coaches will do everything in their power to get him through to one more global showpiece, in a similar vein to Duane Vermeulen – who featured in 2023 at an older age of 37.

And if Du Toit can stay fit for this period of time, there is every chance he could finish behind Etzebeth as the second-most capped Springbok of all time, while rivalling his teammate to possibly be regarded as greatest Bok ever.

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