{"id":551213,"date":"2026-07-30T12:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/551213\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T12:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:17:09","slug":"all-blacks-sam-cane-singles-out-rare-breed-springboks-star-as-the-best-he-faced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/551213\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks: Sam Cane singles out ‘rare breed’ Springboks star as the best he faced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary All Blacks flanker Sam Cane has singled out Pieter-Steph du Toit as the standout Springboks<\/a> player he faced during his international career.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old\u2019s international career spanned over 12 years, with the loose forward squaring off against South Africa on 16 occasions during that time.<\/p>\n

The start of his career overlapped with many of the 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks who also claimed a British and Irish Lions series victory two years later, while he spent the prime years playing against the squad that won back-to-back trophies in 2019 and 2023.<\/p>\n

Sam Cane hails \u2018rare bread\u2019 Pieter-Steph du Toit<\/p>\n

He fronted up against some of the greatest names in Springboks history, particularly in the back-row, going up against the likes of Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Francois Louw and many others. However, Du Toit was the opponent that stood out the most.<\/p>\n

He revealed as much during his appearance on The Aftermatch with Kirst & Beav when fellow All Black<\/a> Stephen Donald asked: \u201cYou passed over the two great Springbok<\/a> generations on the back of the Matfield-era and then the new era, who have gone on to win two World Cups. Who are the guys you went up against that stand out for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Pieter-Steph du Toit,\u201d Cane<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly in his later years, he had a little bit of a bad injury run early on, or even now he seems to have a bad injury run, but he\u2019s come right and is available for the Boks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is just incredible, like how he\u2019s been able to be so relentless. It\u2019s a little bit like what Schalk Burger was, not that I played against Schalk in his prime \u2013 it was the end of his career \u2013 but like both massive humans, both got the blonde hair, but just huge, huge engines. They go all day, keep getting up in your face, never take a backward step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Donald likened the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year to ex-All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick, saying: \u201d When you think about Pieter-Steph is essentially like your great mate Guzzler but a loose forward. That\u2019s the phenomenal aspect to him, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d Cane remarked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, when he first started, I always remember it was like, is he a lock? Is he a flanker? He can obviously slip in and play lock, but he\u2019s that sort of athlete. He\u2019s a rare breed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Cane reveals his most significant victory over the Springboks which still gives him \u2018goosebumps\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Dave Rennie dubs Rassie Erasmus as the \u2018most innovative coach\u2019 and hails the \u2018unbelievable job\u2019 done with \u2018phenomenal\u2019 Springboks<\/a><\/p>\n

Rivalry with the Springboks<\/p>\n

While being fierce opponents on the pitch, the former captain says that he always enjoyed catching up with the Springboks after the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as the rivalry on the field is as intense as ever, it\u2019s always one of those changing rooms you look forward to after the game,\u201d he said. \u201cLike going in and sharing a beer, and you\u2019re always made to feel so welcome when you walk in that they give you a beer straight away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rugby is always just left on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Ex-All Blacks boss Steve Hansen welcomes \u2018slight change in refs\u2019 attitude\u2019 but highlights area where \u2018we have to find a way to be more competitive\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legendary All Blacks flanker Sam Cane has singled out Pieter-Steph du Toit as the standout Springboks player he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1463,1464,111,43,139,69,270494,6327,270495,1466,213],"class_list":["post-551213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pieter-steph-du-toit","tag-rugby","tag-sam-cane","tag-south-africa","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}