BOK YSTER: Why never-say-die Pieter-Steph embodies the spirit of Rassie’s Boks

Coach Rassie Erasmus has called on the Springboks to deliver a gladiatorial performance in the second Test of the Greatest Rivalry series – for the sake of Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ox Nché.Du Toit will win his 100th Test cap when he leads South Africa at the Cape Town Stadium this Saturday, while Nché will represent South Africa for the 50th time.Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, Erasmus lamented the Boks’ 33-16 loss to the All Blacks in the series opener and the fact that Damian de Allende’s 100th game had ended on the worst possible note.Bok flank Pieter-Steph du Toit captained the Springboks against the All Blacks at Ellis Park last weekend. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images) The Bok coach hopes that the team will be a lot sharper this coming Saturday, and that Du Toit and Nché will have further reason to celebrate at the final whistle.“I’ve been involved with this team for the past nine years, and I can tell you they are both humble guys, and they both deserve to reach these milestones,” Erasmus said.While the team will focus on the task at hand, Du Toit’s milestone is particularly noteworthy and worth unpacking.The flanker has been one of the common denominators throughout this golden era for the Boks, winning back-to-back World Cups, a series against the British & Irish Lions and three Rugby Championships – as well as two World Rugby Player of the Year awards, in 2019 and 2024.What those titles and accolades won’t tell you is how hard Du Toit has worked over the past 13 years, or how many challenges he’s overcome. And while rugby is a team sport, one wonders if the Boks would have scaled such heights if Du Toit had accepted his fate following a life-changing incident in 2020.Bok prop Ox Nché carries against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on 22 August 2026. Nché will win his 50th cap in the second Test at DHL Stadium in Cape Town. (Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg / Gallo Images) Back from the brinkSix years ago, Du Toit sustained a freakish injury while on duty for the Stormers in a Super Rugby match, and if not for a timely intervention by the team doctor, he would have lost his left leg.Several surgeries later, medical experts told the flanker that he would never run again. While many would have hung up their boots at that point, Du Toit got to work.When I caught up with Du Toit several months later, he spoke about the traumatic experience in no uncertain terms and revealed how the vascular surgeon had cut through the muscle and left the wound open, exposed for 10 days. Pieter-Steph du Toit with his family following the Rugby World Cup 2023 Final at Stade de France on 28 October 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo: Dan Mullan / Getty Images) After being discharged from hospital, he returned to the family farm in Riebeek Kasteel and took some time to consider his options. While the ordeal served as a reminder that there is more to life than rugby, he wasn’t done with the game just yet.Some 16 months elapsed between that fateful game for the Stormers and his next Test for the Boks against Georgia in July 2021 – and at the time of his comeback, many described it as a miraculous story in of itself.Few could have predicted that it would mark the beginning of a much longer chapter, or that Du Toit would take his game to new heights and come to embody everything that is good about Erasmus’ all-conquering Boks.Character over talentOver the course of his tenure, Erasmus has suggested that character is more important than talent in this Bok squad.Du Toit won the 2012 Junior World Championship with South Africa, and the 2013 Currie Cup with the Sharks. After he made his Test debut against Wales in Cardiff in 2013, then Bok coach Heyneke Meyer declared that the two-metre tall, 114kg utility forward was a freak of nature that he would go on to become one of the all-time greats.Nevertheless, Du Toit’s character was tested after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in early 2014, and after he injured the same knee exactly a year later.Pieter-Steph du Toit of South Africa against France at Stade de France on 23 November 2013. (Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images) When he was told that his World Cup dream was over, Du Toit flew to Germany for a special procedure – with his father Pieter offering his own ligaments to the cause – and fought his way back into the squad before the 2015 tournament in England.While most will remember that campaign for the historic loss to Japan, the game in Brighton marked Du Toit’s first start for South Africa at No 7 – a position he has made his own in more recent seasons.Du Toit won the 2016 SA Player of the Year award, and was one of the most consistent performers for the Boks during Allister Coetzee’s largely unsuccessful tenure.But when Erasmus took the reins in 2018, he told Du Toit that he had more to give, and that chat set the tone for one of the most remarkable performances of his career.Du Toit made 24 tackles against the All Blacks in Wellington, and the Boks went on to claim their first win (36-34) on New Zealand soil in nine years.Bok hooker Bongi Mbonambi embraces an emotional Pieter-Steph du Toit, who gave a colossal performance, to beat the All Blacks 36-34 in Wellington on 15 September, 2018. (Photo: Hannah Peters / Getty Images) In the aftermath of that result, the exhausted flanker embraced teammate Bongi Mbonambi and allowed the tears to flow. It was a powerful moment that showed what the result meant to the player, and to South Africa as a whole.In 2019, Du Toit was at the heart of a stunning 32-12 victory against England in the World Cup final in Yokohama, Japan.Having fought his way back from a potentially career-ending injury, he featured in the first two Tests against the Lions in 2021, before succumbing to a shoulder ailment that would sideline him for the rest of that season.Some may have called it quits at that stage, but Du Toit took the setback in his considerable stride.Halfway through the 2023 World Cup semifinal against England, the typically reserved Du Toit stepped out of the shadows to deliver a rousing speech – a raw moment that is brilliantly captured in the docu-series Chasing the Sun 2.“Everyone’s scared,” he told his wide-eyed teammates in Afrikaans. “If you’re afraid, say so, and we will make a f***ing plan.”The Boks progressed to the final and went on to beat the All Blacks 12-11. Du Toit made 28 tackles on the night, five of them on New Zealand centre Jordie Barrett.When I asked him about that Man-of-the Match performance afterwards, he spoke about his desire to get up after every hit and make one more – for the sake of his teammates and family.“You execute a good tackle, and then you have a choice: Do you relax for a few seconds at the bottom of the ruck, or do you try and get back in the line?“I kept pushing myself, because I knew that if I relaxed for an instant, I might not get across to make the next tackle, and that might result in a try... and I knew that even one try could mean the difference between victory and defeat.“So while I was very sore after that game against New Zealand, I had no regrets – and I’d do it all again.”Indeed, it’s now three years later, and the 34-year-old Du Toit is still leading the charge against the men in black.Burying the bogeyAs it stands, the Boks have yet to beat the All Blacks in a match where a South African player has won his 100th cap.Percy Montgomery, John Smit, Jean de Villiers and De Allende all marked this milestone with a defeat by the old enemy – and some fear that Du Toit’s big day may end in another loss.Erasmus recently said that the mindset within the camp was a lot more positive.While the Boks have plenty to rectify after the defeat in the series opener, they will be encouraged by the fact that they have fought back from similar situations in past seasons.Erasmus’ charges rebounded from a pool phase loss to win the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, and from a first Test defeat to win the 2021 series against the Lions.South Africa’s Pieter-Steph du Toit celebrates with teammates RG Snyman (far left), Tendai Mtawarira (left) and Cheslin Kolbe after beating the All Blacks in Wellington on 15 September 2018. (Photo: Reuters / Ross Setford) Much like the team he represents, Du Toit has been written off time and again.He was told that he wouldn’t run again, that he wouldn’t play again, and that he wouldn’t be the player he was before.And yet, he has come back stronger and more determined in the wake of each setback and has delivered in the Tests that matter most.With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if Du Toit spearheads a series-saving performance against the All Blacks on Saturday and shows why he will be remembered as one of the all-time greats. DM