The English ‘freak’ and the ‘very explosive’ Springboks star that make up Thomas du Toit’s ultimate scrum
Springboks scrummaging against Ireland in 2025 and prop Thomas du Toit.
World-class prop Thomas du Toit has built his dream scrum following his experiences of playing in South Africa and England.
The 31-year-old has become one of the best front-rowers in the world over the past couple of years and is now a key part of the Springboks squad.
Du Toit is an excellent scrummager and was part of a Test unit which dominated their opponents during the 2025 campaign.
However, he cannot do it alone and on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby, he was asked what support he would have.
The tighthead did not speak about the other side of the scrum but instead listed the players he would like behind and alongside him.
Best scrummaging hooker and lock
Du Toit firstly started with hooker and lock, and both were easy calls for the prop.
“Malcolm Marx straight away,” he said. “Malcolm’s obviously an unbelievable player but he’s a very good scrummager. Take a look at his boots, he wears 8-stud… he’s full on into it.
“Eben [Etzebeth] definitely [for lock] because Eben’s got this perfect combination between not being the heaviest guy on the field but also being very explosive, so he’s in that middle range, which is exactly what you need from a scrum perspective of being able to hit but also keeping the pressure on. He’s very fast into that space.”
Du Toit then moved onto flanker where he mentioned a couple of Englishmen, including Ted Hill, who he described as a “freak”.
“At flanker I really enjoy Ted Hill and Guy Pepper. They are fully committed to the scrum but we always gee them up to be more involved in the scrums, so they enjoy it,” he said.
Siya Kolisi an ‘unbelievable scrummager’
Those two may get the nod over Siya Kolisi but the tighthead couldn’t finish without discussing the scrummaging skills of the legendary Springboks captain.
“I know it’s very biased but Siya is an unbelievable scrummager. If you look at the scrum in its entirety until the ball gets out, he’s probably the guy that stays in there the longest from the back-row,” Du Toit said.
It rather shows how seriously scrummaging is taken in South Africa, so much so that he took that attitude back to Bath after representing the Springboks.
“When Guy Pepper and Ross Molony first arrived at Bath, they had played one game and in this one specific scrum they were slipping. It was my first day back from the Springboks and I go, ‘listen boys we really need to check our equipment and make sure when we go into battle, we’ve got the right stuff’,” he said.
“They were just like, ‘on his first day in here…’”