Full name | Pieter Stephanus du Toit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 20 August 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Cape Town, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 2.00 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 115 kg (254 lb; 18 st 2 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Hoërskool Swartland, Malmesbury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Piet du Toit (grandfather), Johan du Toit (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Pieter Stephanus du Toit (born 20 August 1992) is a South African professional rugby union player and two-time winner of World Rugby Player of the Year (in 2019, 2024). Du Toit plays as a lock or a flanker for the South Africa national team and the Toyota Verblitz in Japan Rugby League One. After winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup with South Africa, he was awarded the 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year, an award he won for a second time in 2024. He was awarded man of the match in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand. Known for his stamina, tackling ability and high work rate, he is considered[ according to whom? ] to be one of the greatest players of his generation.
Du Toit went to school at Hoërskool Swartland where he played mostly in the second row. [2]
Du Toit was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that won the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship. [3]
In July 2013, Du Toit signed a two-year contract extension with the Sharks. [4] The Sharks announced his departure in October 2015. [5]
He made his South Africa Test debut versus Wales in Cardiff on 9 November 2013 at age 21. [6] Du Toit has since become a regular for the Springboks and was a part of the South African team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Du Toit came off the bench in the quarter-final, when South Africa beat Wales 23–19 at Twickenham Stadium. The following season saw Du Toit become a regular starter for South Africa, under new head coach, Allister Coetzee.
On 2 June 2018, Du Toit became the 60th captain of South Africa, as he led the Springboks out against Wales, losing the match 20–22. Du Toit also took part in the mid-year series against England, which South Africa won.
He moved to the back row from 2019 onwards. [2]
Du Toit was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. [7] South Africa won the tournament, defeating England in the final. [8] He was awarded the World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year in 2019. He was also Player of the Match in the 2023 World Cup final against the All Blacks in the Springboks successful defense of their World Cup title, making an astounding 28 tackles. [9]
Against | P | W | D | L | Tri | Pts | %Won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 66.67 |
Australia | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
British and Irish Lions | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
England | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
France | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Ireland | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 50 |
Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
Japan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
New Zealand | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18.75 |
Scotland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Wales | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
Total | 58 | 32 | 3 | 23 | 5 | 25 | 57.76 |
Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored
Natal Sharks
South Africa Rugby Union Awards
World Rugby awards
Du Toit, a Christian, is the grandson of former Springbok prop, Piet "Spiere" du Toit and is the older brother of Johan, also a professional rugby player. The two brothers were contracted to the Sharks at the same time (in 2014 and 2015) before reuniting at the Stormers from 2017 onwards. [10] He is nicknamed the Malmesbury Missile. [11]
Du Toit is married to Willemien, with whom he has three children. [12]
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts, and their emblem is the Springbok, a native antelope and the national animal of South Africa. The team has represented South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup a record four times. South Africa are the only team to have won half of the Rugby World Cups they have participated in, and are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Jr. is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a flanker for Saracens in the English Premiership and has won 86 caps for South Africa.
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The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an award presented annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. It is given to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". First presented in 2001, it was initially named the IRB International Player of the Year; from 2007 until 2014 it was the IRB Player of the Year and in 2014 it was titled World Rugby Player of the Year, before being given its current name in 2016.
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Pieter Stephanus "Piet" du Toit, was a South African rugby international. He played as a prop. Due to his relative small stature and light weight for a prop, but still being a strong scrummager, he was known as Piet "Spiere" du Toit. Spiere is the Afrikaans word for "muscles".
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