Thomas Du Toit has heaped praise on Springbok teammate Wilco Louw as the prop duo prepare to pack down against Italy.
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 of hooker Malcolm Marx with Louw completing the front row.
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Du Toit and Louw started in the 45-12 win against Wales in November, and the two props are reunited in the run-on XV at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this week. Though Du Toit was a regular squad member of the Bok squad last season, starting five Tests, he and 15-Test scrum anchor Louw have each walked a similar path to this point of their career in that they both appear poised to see more action after intermittent duty since 2018.
Du Toit is looking forward to scrumming alongside the Bulls strongman.
“I feel that he’s playing his best rugby that I’ve seen him play for a very long time,” the 23-Test prop said of Louw. “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]. 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 they 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.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Anton Geyser Media
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