Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has praised World Cup-winning Springbok scrummager Thomas du Toit as one of the English club’s signings of the season.
Du Toit joined Bath ahead of the 2023-24 campaign and has quickly become a cornerstone of the Somerset outfit’s pack, scoring an impressive six tries in his first 12 matches for the club.
The 29-year-old made more than 100 appearances for the Sharks, who he also skippered, during his time in Durban and was in the mix to make the Boks’ 2023 Rugby World Cup squad, but just missed the final cut despite his rare ability to play both loosehead and tighthead prop.
Under Van Graan, Bath have transformed from sometimes competing on one front to regularly competing in the Premiership and EPCR, and in a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph, the former Bok assistant coach highlighted the 18-Test Du Toit’s versatility as a significant factor for the side.
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“If you go forward, rugby is easy. If you go backwards, it’s pretty difficult. We needed go-forward at scrum, maul and gainline. Then, adding certain individuals who had been in winning environments or who had specific traits to add,” Van Graan told The Telegraph.
“Thomas du Toit was a prop who could play both sides, a very good ball-carrier, but he was captain of South Africa A and the Sharks. None of this happened by chance.
“Value is so important. Why Thomas was so good is because we identified the position and got the right person. Once you get a player, the value lies in the performance. Thomas is the Players’ Player this season and was voted our best forward.
“Talking about value, he has scored 11 tries, the same as Joe Cokanasiga, a wing.
“But the message from day one has been that it’s not about one player, it’s about our squad.”
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