'I got dished up': Thomas du Toit reveals toughest scrum opponent

Thomas du Toit is the latest prop to share which player he’s had the most difficult time scrummaging against, with an ex-All Black earning the crown after the pair locked horns in a Super Rugby playoff game.

Few contests in sport demand dark arts quite like the scrum, and nobody knows its toughest operators better than those who face them week in, week out.

In 2014, Du Toit was in his rookie season with the Sharks and came up against the Crusaders in a semi-final in Christchurch. It was just his fourth Super Rugby game, and he was just 19 years old. It was in that game he had his ‘welcome to the big leagues’ moment.

“There’s always one guy that stands out to me. It was when I started playing for the Sharks; I played loosehead and went to a semi-final against the Crusaders. Owen Franks. He dished me up that day, properly,” Du Toit reflected on a recent episode of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast.

“I remember a specific moment in that day where I told Bismarck (du Plessis) and Jannie (du Plessis) next to me, ‘I feel like I can go for this guy. I’m going to go for him.’ And I couldn’t move him.

“I gave everything, and I was big, I was strong, I was in this front row that was just unreal and a pack that was filled with Springboks. I was supposed to be able to do it, but I couldn’t move him.

“Between him and the other guy who really dished me up, Jacques van Rooyen, I’ve got so much appreciation for it. Looking in hindsight, I love the fact that I got dished up so that I could learn out of it and become the best player that I can be today.”

The Sharks lost that game 38-6, and the Crusaders went on to lose to the Waratahs by one point in the final. The next year, Franks lined up in the black No.3 jersey for the Rugby World Cup final, and as he had done in 2011, helped bring home the title.

Fast forward to 2019, a 31-year-old Franks missed selection in the All Blacks‘ Rugby World Cup squad, while Du Toit was called in as an injury replacement for the Springboks, winning his own place in the history books as South Africa beat England in the final. The 30-year-old is now in the form of his career and well-placed to help lead South Africa in their quest for a historic three-peat next year in Australia.

Franks was asked in 2024 which of the props he faced during his career was the best scrummager and named Argentine Marcos Ayerza. England’s Kyle Sinckler is also on record saying Ayerza is one of the best he’s come up against.

Franks and Sinckler both made mention of South Africa’s Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira as another of the best in the world during the 2010s, and Mtawarira returned the compliment, naming Franks as his toughest opponent.