There was no shortage of Springbok heroes following South Africa’s Rugby World Cup triumph in Paris last year. No single player, however, put his body on the line quite like Pieter-Steph du Toit did, as he scooped the Player of the Match award in the heart-stopping final against the All Blacks with a whopping tackle count of 28.
New video footage suggests that it might have been 29…
Embed from Getty ImagesWith that mind-blowing feat, South Africa’s du Toit equalled Frenchman Thierry Dusautoir’s record for the highest number of tackles in a single Rugby World Cup match, and du Toit accomplished it in a final to boot.
“The body hurt a bit, but the spirit was soaring,” Pieter-Steph du Toit acknowledged in a rare interview following the Boks’ 12-11 victory over New Zealand in the final at the Stade de France.
“The World Cup tends to become rather tiring after seven weeks, with all sorts of little niggles coming into play. Most of all, one becomes emotionally exhausted.
“You keep going, though, and, well, now all the problems have faded into insignificance.”
Another startling statistic is that South Africa’s du Toit played 386 out of a possible 560 Rugby World Cup minutes, which was more than any other Bok forward at the tournament, while, of the five games that he played, he stayed on for the full 80 minutes in four and was only substituted in the final five minutes of the quarter-final against France.
“The coaching staff considers a specific criteria during the course of a game, such as ‘battle rate’,” he explained.
Embed from Getty Images“As soon as they pick up that a player is not becoming involved in enough ‘battles’ on the field, and is busy losing steam, they will bring on a substitute. Once you tire, your standards inevitably drop.
“I was just provileged to finish as many games as I did. It obviously also has to do with conditioning.
“We enjoyed a highly constructive pre-season in the run-up to our opening Rugby Championship test of the season, against Australia in July last year. I trained really well, both in the gymnasium and in terms of running.
“I did exactly the same preparation as the rest of the squad, though, and am probably blessed with healthy genes too,” says the 31-year-old blindside flanker, whose grandfather, Piet “Spiere” du Toit was a powerhouse prop for South Africa when they clinched the rubber against the All Blacks and a Grand Slam in 1960-61.
Experts suggest that the route the Boks had to follow to last year’s RWC title was the toughest in the history of the 36-year-old history of the global showpiece.
According to Du Toit, the men in green and gold were perfectly prepared for the monstrous task awaiting them.
Embed from Getty Images“The coaches identified four critical games of the campaign beforehand: the opening game against Scotland; the quarters, semis and final.
“Although defeat at the hands of Ireland during the pool stages was hard to stomach, it ultimately proved to be irrelevant.
“For me, personally, the quarter-final against France already felt like a final.
“To see off the French in France, despite factors like the massive crowd and electric atmosphere inside he stadium favouring the home team, was special. We trained the whole week with loud music, including ‘La Marseillaise’, blasting in our ears.
Embed from Getty Images“The semi against England was challenging due to the inclement conditions. We weren’t fully prepared for the rain and wet ball.
“Even though everybody expected us to beat England, we knew it wouldn’t be easy and England brought it; tactically they placed us under enormous pressure.
‘The final, of course, was simply unbelievable.
“It was the third time in one year that we’d clashed with the All Blacks and, following our convincing 35-7 win at Twickenham in August, when everything just fell in place, we were in a good space.
Embed from Getty Images“Nevertheless, we had no illusions that the RWC final would be a different kettle of fish.
“And the red card (to Sam Cane) certainly complicated things.
“When a team is down to 14 men, and it happened to us against France when I got a red at Marseilles in 2022, two things can happen. Either they toss in the towel ór they come at you twice as hard.
Embed from Getty Images“The Kiwis certainly brought it; they actually performed better with 14 than 15 men.
“To be honest, I don’t really remember much of the final. The thing is, you are so in the zone that you’re totally unaware of what’s happening around you.
“Our main focus was on their flyhalf and midfield, to ensure that the ball didn’t reach their lethal flyers out wide.”
The Boks, and, more precisely, Pieter-Steph du Toit, certainly succeeded in their mission, as Messrs Mo’unga and Barrett would no doubt concur…
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
Excellent read.
Pieter-Steph du Toit is some talent