Final is 'most important game of my life'‚ says Sharks prop Du Toit
Image: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
Sharks prop Thomas du Toit has said that Saturday’s Currie Cup final against Western Province will be the most important game of his life.
The 22-year-old tank of a front row forward will be taking part in his first Currie Cup final and it happens to be against the province where he learnt his formative rugby. Du Toit’s much-improved scrummaging has played a key role in the Sharks’ charge to the final.
“I can sum it up quickly and say it’s the most important game of my life that I’m going to take part in is this weekend. That’s the mentality we’re all going to go in with‚” Du Toit said.
“There’s nothing more important than your next game. That’s the way I’m going to prepare for the game and hopefully the rest of the team will have the same mindset.
“There’s a bit of nervous excitement going on in the camp. I’m super-excited because playing Western Province is always special for me and it doesn’t matter when I play against them.
“It’s always special. It’s going to be a cracker.”
Du Toit has a fair bit of reverence for the Western Province scrum‚ especially with the demolition job former athletics rival and current WP tighthead prop Wilco Louw performed on the Golden Lions pack.
The Sharks’ eight isn’t to be trifled with either and they had the better of John Dobson’s side despite the 31-20 home loss on October 14.
Du Toit is looking forward to another tussle with Louw and the fact that the teams will be allowed to have eight players on the bench as compared to the seven they used for the better part of the tournament allows for pitched battles to develop nicely.
Du Toit is seen to be one of the heirs to Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira at loosehead prop. Throughout the Currie Cup he has displayed enough form to suggest Mtawarira could be used sparingly next season.
However‚ he faces stiff competition from Stormers loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff‚ who started the last Springbok test against the All Blacks in Cape Town on October 7.
“I’ve scrummed a few times against Wilco Louw and it’s nice to have a friend that you can scrum against. We were close when we played together at the South African Under-20 side.
“The only thing I have to get him back for is the snoring in the hotel room. That’s going to be important for me‚” Du Toit chuckled.
“I know Wilco from athletics as well and I played against his school a few times. We were always friends‚ and as front-rowers we were always friends. We’re the cauliflower brotherhood.”