Rassie Erasmus has made it clear the glories of 2019 are well behind the Springboks.
The world champions, he believes, have to move on to fresh challenges.
They scaled the game’s highest peaks with Mount Fuji as the backdrop in 2019, but Erasmus has set his gaze on the Eiffel Tower and Paris as the Springboks' playground come next year’s Rugby World Cup (RWC) final.
The time, SA Rugby’s director of rugby contends, has arrived to stop living off the reputation as World Champions and pursue another march to the game’s grandest prize.
His players would no doubt have been imbued with the same spirit, especially those who walked that road to glory in Japan.
Of course, much has happened in the intervening three years and for the Springboks to recreate their success, some key players will have to reprise their starring 2019 roles.
That requirement perhaps weighs heaviest on Pieter-Steph du Toit.
He was the world player of the year on the back of the Springboks’ most significant triumphs that year. They met Rugby Championship success, won the World Cup for a third time and were able to ascend to the top of the global rankings.
Du Toit’s ability to so profoundly impact proceedings helped propel the Springboks to those accolades.
When you are younger you'll tackle anybody as hard as you can and also injure yourself in the process.
— Pieter-Steph du Toit
He was a force of nature, making contributions as telling in attack as defence. His ability to get around the park and decisively turn outcomes in the balance in the Springboks’ favour put him in a league of his own.
Even his most strident fans, however, have acknowledged injury has shortened his stride.
A career-threatening leg injury brought his career to a dramatic halt early in 2020. He ran the risk of losing the leg.
His recuperation was long and hard, but he returned for the Boks in their series win over the British & Irish Lions. However, it came at a cost.
He went under the knife to fix his troublesome shoulder, but in Japan, while on duty for Toyota Verblitz, things felt a little out of place. He completed rehab, but once back on the field, the screw broke. He soldiered on through the pain.
In the middle of the season the screw that broke started moving, causing irritation. He flew back to South Africa and had both removed.
Du Toit recuperated and was nursed back to fitness under the supervision of Springbok management. Had he not been such an exulted player, he would not have had that luxury. Moreover, playing in a league where the accent is on mobility, not thundering collisions, Du Toit hasn’t had to display his full range to find favour with the team’s brains trust.
Given his orthopaedic trauma, he told this writer, he has become older and wiser.
“You don’t just dive into someone at full speed, you wait to time it right,” he said earlier this year.
“When you are younger you’ll tackle anybody as hard as you can and injure yourself in the process.
“You figure out which contact situations you can dominate. You try to get to the breakdown quicker so you don’t have to clean out at full tilt. When a guy runs into you at full speed front on, you ride the momentum,” said the flank.
Springbok rugby will forever be indebted to Du Toit. He has redefined the demands of playing blindside flank. He will, however, never be the player who chased everything down like a man possessed. His impact now will be measured less by its ferocity and more by cerebral deployment of his kinetic energy.
In 2019 he came with a big battery and all the features, but Du Toit, who has had much to process, will hope his 2.2.3 iteration cuts to the chase.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.