Tank wants to build guest houses, until then it’s all about the Sharks
DURBAN: Thomas du Toit has a picture of an army tank on the tail gate of his bakkie, accompanied by the words “The Tank Engine,” and nobody is going to argue with that moniker given that the Sharks loosehead prop is hovering around 130kg.
And that is with him being on a diet. Du Toit says he was 135kg last year and is now down to about 128kg as he seeks to gain greater mobility now that he is finally settling down at loosehead prop.
Last year, because of his sheer bulk, there was an attempt to play him as a tighthead but that experiment was not wholly successful.
“I think the ‘loosehead-tighthead’ debate has been settled for this year,” the 21-year-old said. “If there is a problem at tighthead I can move there. Loosehead is my natural position. There is (a) good thing going at the Sharks. You can see the difference from last year to this year in the way we are playing. There is a total buy-in from the players to the entertaining rugby and winning culture the coaching staff want to create.”
Du Toit spent the pre-season in Ireland on a threemonth contract with Munster, an experience he says has enhanced his game.
“My time in Ireland was excellent for me. I played six games, three at loosehead and three at tighthead. It made me realise that we as South Africans do not know everything and they don’t know everything over there, so a cross pollination of ideas can be beneficial for everybody. “In Ireland, they do a lot more live scrumming, and we have implemented that here at the Sharks, and the results are there to be seen.
The jovial Du Toit is a throwback to a young Ollie le Roux and could become a Kings Park favourite once he steps outside of the shadow of Tendai Mtawarira. He is also surely destined for Springbok honours having played SA Schools, SA Under-20 and for the SA A team against the England Saxons last year.
Du Toit has his life all mapped out. In June he is writing his final exams for a degree in economics and for the last two years he has been building guest houses on the family farm. “One day that is going to be my post-rugby business and my studies will help me run it. The farm is in Koringsberg,” Du Toit said.
“There is a lot of wheat but also plenty of cattle. Maybe that is why I got so much meat as a kid! I loved eating. I must have been one of the few kids who would push away the pudding and ask for more meat.”
So what’s life in Durban compared to Koringberg? “I like the heat. I come from one of the hottest parts of the country. And I like the fact that it is green (a novelty). And of course I like the beach. I thought about trying surfing, but they don’t make boards that would support my weight,” Du Toit said.