Springboks: Daan Human pinpoints the ‘lekker thing’ about Pieter-Steph du Toit
Springboks scrum coach Daan Human has hailed versatile forward Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Springboks scrum coach Daan Human has hailed versatile forward Pieter-Steph du Toit and joked that they are working on him as an option in the front-row.
Du Toit has shifted between lock and flank for the Springboks this year to ease the team’s concerns in the second-row following injuries to Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman.
Pieter-Steph du Toit
While the former World Rugby Player of the Year is no stranger to playing in the second-row having done so for the Sharks, Stormers and Springboks earlier in his career, he almost exclusively played as a blindside flanker since 2019.
Still, he has been a standout for the Springboks this year continuing his fine form in 2023 where he was named man of the match in the Rugby World Cup final victory over New Zealand.
He has also been highlighted as a leader once again for the team skippering the side against Wales and in the latter stages of Tests matches while still maintaining an incredibly high standard in his performance.
“The lekker thing about Pieter-Steph du Toit is that he played four lock, five lock, and seven,” Human admired.
“I’m not quite sure if he’s there yet to play prop but we’ll work on that,” he joked.
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“He adds a lot of value with his versatility and I don’t think he cares what number jersey he puts on even if means he is on the bench, he just wants to play.
“I’m not sure if he still knows that he is Pieter-Steph du Toit or Steph-Pieter du Toit but he did very well for us in the first game and hopefully he can be part of this week’s game.
“Hopefully, he is attitude can overflow to the rest of the players, it’s inspiring to watch a guy playing like that it’s really nice. He is a learner who always wants to get better and even this morning he said ‘There are certain areas where I can get better’, so that’s good to know.”
All Blacks’ challenge
Turning his focus onto the second Test match against the All Blacks, Human said that the Boks respected the challenge that New Zealand pose but the team was rather focusing on themselves than over-analysing the opposition.
“They had a massive comeback after that first Test that they lost to Argentina and you can always expect that from a quality side like the All Blacks,” he said.
“They are a world-class side and just like two ago we can expect the same kind of comeback from them this week.
“At the moment we actually concentrating on ourselves, where we can get better and I think we must never forget that and we must always try to get better on our side.
“Yes, we must take the opposition into consideration, it is important and we have a lot of respect for the All Blacks but we are at the point where we can only control what we can do, we can’t control their performance but we can control ours.”
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