National coach Heyneke Mayer has given 19-year-old Sharks lock Pieter-Steph du Toit a huge confidence boost in inviting him to join the Springbok planning camp in Pretoria this week.
Du Toit, who stood out for the Sharks under 21 side last year despite only turning 19 in December, made his Super Rugby debut for the Sharks this past weekend, playing the final 10 minutes of their game against the Chiefs. He was summoned back from the SA Under 20 camp, where he played against Argentina the week before, to join the Sharks Super Rugby squad last week.
In a SARU press release, Meyer explained the decision: “I’ve rated Pieter-Steph highly since I first saw him play at the Coca-Cola Craven Week and after his selection for The Sharks, we saw it as an ideal opportunity to invite him to the camp. I also discussed the matter with national selector Ian McIntosh. I’ve said from the start that age would not be a determining factor when I select a team and bringing in someone like Pieter Steph gives me the ideal opportunity to assess one of our best young players.”
Congrats, Steph! What a great achievement for an amazing young player.
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Fantastic! Very happy for him!
Now continue to improve and make the second row jersey your own!
Great stuff boytjie
on the 14th December 2011 , i wrote on another forum that pieter Steph-Dutoit was the player to watch, and that he was destined for big things…. HOLY SMOKEY !! i have the sight ! lol . nice one Pieter…i am glad for the Lad, he just has an Air about him.
What type of lock is this guy – hopefully lineout king?
@Bokhoring (Comment 4) : he’s 1.98m, so not really.
Nice thing for PSDT is that by spending some time in the Bok fold he’ll be exposed to an environment where locks actually receiving coaching…
@robdylan (Comment 5) : Matfield is only 2cm taller – so his height should be OK. Think it is more about athletic ability than anything else
@robdylan (Comment 5) : I think locks should have the length of their arm span listed along with their height in their stats; I’ve seen blokes with arms that would make an orangutang proud, so height is not necessarily the be-all and end-all of being a lineout lock…
@Culling Song (Comment 8) : Vertical jumping height is probably another significant measurement
@Culling Song (Comment 9) :
Then you should add the length of the player who will be lifting the lock, so as to see how high exactly his hands will be..
Then.. you need to find a hooker that can actually throw straight!
@Bokhoring (Comment 7) :
Agree also depends on the height of your lifters and was one of the main reasons why Jake did not like selecting a fetcher with the Boks because you sacrifice a tall lifter or height at the back. One of the main reasons why Matfield was so good was because he has a 2m2 Bakkies and sometimes a 1.96 Juan Smith lifting him.
@robdylan (Comment 5) :
Sharks web site has him down at 2.00 metres and 114kgs
ESPN stats has him at 1.98 and 98kgs?!
So not sure which is correct. Cant see him only weighing 98 though.
Congrats PSDT.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 11) :
@John Galt (Comment 13) : He is Def. 114kg. Those ESPN stats are often for young players from the Craven Week, old stats…even the SARu website has stats for many players from their Craven Week days, they suck at updating these things.
Well done PSDT!!!
If Jordaan got more opportunities, which i think we expected he also would’ve got an invitation, IMO. Hope Jordaan is in the 22 for Highlanders game.
@John Galt (Comment 13) : Sharks website also has Keegan Daniel at 1.88
We may have a mathematical chance of sneaking into the semis – but the way we are playing right now I just don’t see that happening. Plumtree may as well start blooding the promising young players such as Jordaan and Du Toit and possibly even Reinach – from the bench at first of course
@Bokhoring (Comment 18) : If we lose another, i would be very chuffed to see our youngsters get a proper run. Especially Jordaan, Du Toit, Allan Dell and Sbura Sithole.
Although i think these 4 could even help us get into the knockouts…We need bonus point wins pretty much everygame now.
So what i’m saying is give the youngsters game time!!! C’mon Plum, you gonna lose your Job if you don’t do something
I’m a huge fan of Botes; but really think Franna Kleinhans should also be allowed to make the step up soon…he has the same workrate as Botes, and is a great fetcher…we keep getting our ball stolen, i think its time we steal the oppositions ball now too.
Great endorsement for the yougster!
@John Galt (Comment 13) :
Who is John Galt?
@robdylan (Comment 17) : And Pat Lambie at 92kg! The guy’s 1.76m; now I’m the same height – and even in my most prolific gyming days (which didn’t last long!), i never went over 85kg….
@CapeShark (Comment 22) : Ya i know, i look down to Lambie so to speak and at 1.79m i weighed 87kg at my heaviest after couple of years of hard Gym work, fast metabolism limited me, kept me playing as a backline player, was thinking of training to be a 6 a one stage
Lambie has big legs and he has a really wide frame, that could explain how his weight is a bit higher than most would think. He has a reach that surprises…probably why he was able to hand off Burger with such ease in the CC final a couple of years ago.
@JJR (Comment 23) : @CapeShark (Comment 22) : When you’ve seen him in person you’d understand why Lambie weighs so much. He’s short but very muscular. Big boned as well.
@Ben (Comment 24) : “Big boned as well” Oh dear, TMI
@Ben (Comment 24) : Ben i went to school with him, he weighed 90 then, and ran into him at PMB a couple months back.
Ja, he is muscular; his Legs especially, upper body a tad leaner; but yes he’s big Boned. He still doesn’t look like 92 kg, when you stand next to him. Just put Paul Jordaan and Lambie next to one another, you would probably say Jordaan weighs around 5-6kg heavier; but its only 2kg…its the bones as you say
Even at School a lot of guys looked like they should be heavier than Pat, but then it turns out they the same weight 
@Ben (Comment 24) : Bone mass surely does make a big difference…i mean i look at Mvovo and i would say 95kg, but he’s 91kg…at least we 5kg plus minus on the right track
With Beast i also thought he would be around 118-120kg, turns out he’s 116kg.
Also Bresler, i was thinking he would be around 116kg, he’s 112kg according to Sharks website.
What are you big boned numbers for JP Pietersen – actual vs visual.
Why does Heyneke see a players potential worth, but Plum not until this past weekend? I think Plum’s handling of Jordaan just underlines his lack of confidence in young players. I mean, he rather selected MJ on the bench than to give Jordaan any opportunity!!
Haven’t seen much of him but from the little I saw I was convinced he’ll offer us more than our current crop of locks. The boy looks the part…
Also think it show’s how lost Plum is. Marais and Bressler aren’t the answer…not writing Bressler off completely…think he needs to get stronger and have a more aggressive attitude. Plum needs to start with Du Poit and Jordaan.