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'Gold': The glowing Bath verdict on Springboks prop Thomas du Toit
Johann van Graan has described the massive impact of Thomas du Toit at Bath this season as “gold”. The Springboks front-rower joined the Gallagher Premiership club from the Sharks in Durban, and he has helped to transform the English strugglers into a team that is now threatening to win the league for the first time since 1996.
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The 28-year-old has made 16 appearances in a campaign that has lifted Bath into second in the Premiership and will see them visit Exeter next weekend in an Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 tie.
Ten of those appearances have been as a starter and so important has he been to the general on-field improvement that he stayed on for 79 minutes in last weekend’s league win over Sale – an unusually long time for a tighthead.
The versatile front-rower has also scored eight tries across both competitions and he will be now looking to add to his highlights reel when Bath visit Harlequins this Saturday in round 14 of the 18-round Premiership.
Asked by RugbyPass to summarise the influence that du Toit has wielded, van Graan said: “I saw an opportunity from a salary cap perspective that you need a prop that can play both sides of the scrum and I searched for, in my view, the best player in the world that fits that and Thomas has been even better than expected.
“He is durable, he can play 80 minutes as a loosehead and as a tighthead. He is incredibly good as a defender because that what tightheads need to do. They need to scrum, they need to defend, and then if you can add the things that he can do.
“He can poach, he is explosive. Some of the tries he has scored from 20 yards out. The try against Northampton, but what he has added to his game now is he is one of the best two or three metres out.
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“In my view the guys who are close to the best in the world, guys like (Andrew) Porter, like (Gavin) Coombes of Munster, Thomas du Toit is there now with two or three metres out. The number of times he will touch the ball and he scores.
“The next bit is he is incredibly disciplined. He doesn’t really give scrum penalties and he is dependable. So yeah, he has become a very big player for us.
“I want to emphasise the squad: the props understand that guys feed off each other. We are going to alternate, we have got some very good props in Beno (Obano), Thomas, Will (Stuart), Archie (Griffin), and one or two guys coming in behind them, so Thomas has been gold for us, and has been a brilliant signing.”
What’s he like away from the pitch? “Very solid human being, family man, likes his shorts, likes fishing, and likes spending time with the boys. You know, he and Tom Dunn became friends instantly, like they had been friends for years so he has fitted into what we do here at Bath.
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“When we spoke (before signing), an incredible attribute of Thomas is he wants to get better. He said, ‘Coach, I need to come to Bath to become better’. I believe he is a better player now than he was 10 months ago.”
Bottom line: Has du Toit surprised van Graan in any way? “No, I pretty much got what I signed up for. What I would say is when I call a player world-class, what I mean by that is he doesn’t really play below eight out of 10.
“If you play 30 games across a season and you perform above eight out of 10 every weekend, that is very good and he has not had a bad game for Bath. In fact, every game you see him he is one of our best players.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments