When injury plagued one of the most promising young Springbok players, his dad stepped in to save the day, helping Pieter-Steph du Toit on his way to being crowned Player of the Year
It has been a tough year for South African rugby, but young lock Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit is one of the few positives. He is fully deserving of his SA Rugby Player of the Year accolade.
To the average fan, he may seem like another successful player in a long line of big burly South African forwards, seemingly bred for the sole purpose of striking fear into the opposition. Du Toit is anything but though, and has had to deal with some big changes and challenges.
Genetically he may have received a head start. His grandfather was a Springbok and Western Province player, so he came from good rugby stock. Growing up in the Swartland in the Cape, he didn’t attend a traditional rugby school.
He had to work extra hard to make it to Craven Week, where he represented Boland, but once there he took his opportunity to impress, making the SA Schools team.
His goal was to play for Western Province, like his grandfather, but an opportunity came up with the Sharks. A far cry from what he knew, and far away from familiar faces, he again had to work hard to really kick start his professional career in a place where he was an unknown.
With success in the SA u20 World Cup, Pieter-Steph Du Toit was being spoken about as a future Springbok. He became one at just 21, but injuries kept pegging him back. His potential was obvious, but his time at the Sharks saw him undergo five operations in five years.
It was a lot for a young man to deal with, let alone adapt to. Adapt he did though, putting disappointments behind him quickly in hopes of moving towards his goals.
Last year he was set to make his World Cup debut for the Boks, but in March, in a SuperRugby match against the Cheetahs he suffered a devastating knee injury. He injured the same knee the year before, and it had gone again.
The cruciate ligaments were torn, and with an average six month recovery period, his World Cup dreams were in tatters.
This hurt more than the other injuries, not so much physically, but more emotionally. In tune with his son’s desire to succeed, his dad stepped up and offered to donate the necessary tendons to hasten the recovery process.
Eliminating the three to four week wait for a cadaver tendon from Europe, the willing surgeon got the recovery process in motion almost immediately in a never before seen operation.
Miraculously, Du Toit made it back onto the rugby field in time to play in the World Cup. His goal reached, the setbacks nothing more than character building hurdles along the way.
After the World Cup, he had to make the tough decision to change unions. The Sharks had backed him through each and every setback, but when the opportunity to return home to play for the Stormers came up, he knew he had make the change and head back amidst great public scrutiny.
Heyneke Meyer and many others had said he was going to be a Bok great, and with each new injury even he must have doubted this. He is an example of how unexpected changes can make you stronger, as long as you are constantly focusing on your goals.
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