{"id":290504,"date":"2025-11-29T23:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T23:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/290504\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T23:34:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T23:34:14","slug":"how-steph-du-toits-dad-gave-up-part-of-his-leg-to-help-son-become-a-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/290504\/","title":{"rendered":"How Steph du Toit\u2019s dad gave up part of his leg to help son become a great"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday, March 13, 2015, dawned under a clear blue sky in the Western Cape. It would get hot in the afternoon. For Pieter-Stephanus du Toit, a wine-producing farmer from just outside Riebeek-Kasteel, it was another rugby day. Not that he was complaining. He liked to watch his boys play. Three were in action that Saturday. <\/p>\n

The younger ones, Anton and Daniel, had trials for South Africa schools\u2019 most prestigious tournament, Craven Week. Already a professional, the eldest son Pieter-Steph would be in Bloemfontein for the Sharks against the Cheetahs in the Super Rugby Championship. That was too far for Pieter-Stephanus, who only had to jump in the bakkie to see the younger ones in their trials at nearby Hopefield. <\/p>\n

All four of the Du Toit boys were good at rugby but Pieter-Stephanus and his wife Annaleane thought Anton the one with the most talent. He could play fly half, centre, wing or full back. That day at Hopefield, Anton\u2019s foot got caught in an unseen mole-made hole and he smashed his ankle, breaking the bone and causing serious ligament damage.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Du Toit celebrates World Cup success with his family in Paris in October 2023<\/p>\n

DAN MULLAN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Pieter-Stephanus took Anton to the emergency unit at Durbanville Medical Centre, a private hospital near Cape Town. There, in the waiting room, he and Daniel watched the Sharks v Cheetahs on TV. X-rays showed Anton\u2019s injuries were as bad as they\u2019d feared. When Annaleane turned up, her husband and Daniel headed back to the farm, hoping to catch the second half of the Sharks game. <\/p>\n

Along the way they listened to the radio commentary. Three minutes before half-time, a Sharks player went down. They prayed it wasn\u2019t Pieter-Steph. It was. The commentator said it looked bad. Pieter-Steph was replaced. After getting home, Pieter-Stephanus called his son\u2019s number. No answer. Called it again. Again, nothing. <\/p>\n

Two years before, Pieter-Steph had made the Springbok team. Now his dad\u2019s concern was chaperoned by the fear that injury would keep him out of the 2015 World Cup, just six months away in England. Eventually Jimmy Wright, a fitness coach at the Sharks, called. <\/p>\n

\"Pieter,<\/p>\n

Pieter-Steph, right, with his dad, centre, and three brothers<\/p>\n

NOT KNOWN, CLEAR WITH PICTURE DESK<\/p>\n

\u201cPieter-Stephanus, the news is not good. I\u2019m going to hand over to Pieter-Steph.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDad,\u201d said Pieter-Steph, \u201cwe think I\u2019ve done the ACL again.\u201d <\/p>\n

Though he was then just 22, Pieter-Steph had already had an ACL reconstruction. That took nine months. Fearing the consequences of this latest injury, Pieter-Steph cried while speaking to his dad and brother. Pieter-Stephanus and Daniel also cried. When the emotion subsided, Pieter-Stephanus spoke earnestly to his son. \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d he said, \u201cwe\u2019ll make a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had you asked about the nature of the plan, Pieter-Stephanus would have said he didn\u2019t know but he had to get his boy to believe they would get through this. <\/p>\n

Two days later the two Pieter-Stephs went to Cape Town to see the renowned surgeon Dr Willem van der Merwe, who explained that as they had taken tendon from young Pieter-Steph\u2019s hamstring for his first ACL, it wouldn\u2019t be good to take more tendon from him. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will need to order some and that comes from Germany. It will take six weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cCould you not take tendon from my leg,\u201d said Pieter-Stephanus. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said Dr Van der Merwe. \u201c I\u2019ve never done that. I will inquire from some US colleagues to see if it\u2019s possible. We would need to do blood tests to make sure you\u2019re in good health.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI have just had a full health check. I can email the blood results.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dr Van der Merwe\u2019s colleagues said it should be possible to use tendon from Mr Du Toit to help stabilise his son\u2019s knee. Two days later the two Pieter-Stephs went under the surgeon\u2019s knife at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Cape Town. First, an examination of the damage to young Pieter\u2019s knee and an assessment of how much tendon they\u2019d need. Once that was done, Dr Van der Merwe went to work on Pieter-Stephanus, slicing three inches of tendon from his hamstring. That was then used to repair Pieter-Steph\u2019s torn ACL. <\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

Du Toit scores against England at Twickenham during the 2024 autumn internationals<\/p>\n

WARREN LITTLE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

They left the hospital, side by side, in wheelchairs. Two days later Pieter-Stephanus was back at work on the farm. His son\u2019s recovery took a lot more time. Appreciating what his father had done, Pieter-Steph worked harder than he\u2019d ever done. Four months after ACL surgery he played for the Sharks, and six weeks after that he played for South Africa at the World Cup. <\/p>\n

Anton, too, recovered from serious ankle surgery and was so impressed by the skill of his surgeon, Dr Matthys Boeyens, that he changed his career plan and went to medical school. Anton is now a doctor. <\/p>\n

As for Pieter-Stephanus, he likes to joke that he once dreamt of playing for the Springboks. His father had. His son does. And now, since 2015, a small part of him plays for the Springboks. <\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll make a plan\u2019<\/p>\n

He walks into the Dublin hotel where we had agreed to meet. Slim and towering, he looks taller than his 6ft 6in. Through the latest rise of the Springboks, beginning with victory at the 2019 World Cup, Pieter-Steph du Toit has been a colossus. The one who is selected first and replaced last. No one in the squad embodies better the team\u2019s character than the athletic and relentless flanker. <\/p>\n

A two-time world player of the year, he delivered one of the all-time great performances in the 2023 World Cup final against New Zealand, a match the Springboks won 12-11. That night at the Stade de France, he made 28 tackles, eight more than the player with the second highest tackle count, his team-mate Deon Fourie. \u201cPieter-Steph wasn\u2019t just making tackles,\u201d said team-mate RG Snyman, \u201che was obliterating people.\u201d <\/p>\n

Does he consider it the best of his career? <\/p>\n

\u201cI would agree, yeah, and the chances of it happening again, one in a million,\u201d he says. \u201cFirst of all, it was a blessing, how we were able to play that game, and how it came at just the right time and the right place for me. The timing was perfect. With the tackling, that just came naturally. It was meant to be. Afterwards I didn\u2019t really remember anything I did in the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t recall tackles I\u2019d made, or ball carries. The one thing I remember is being focused on the next thing. In a game you must forget about what you\u2019ve just done, because what happened has happened, it\u2019s over and it\u2019s not going to make a difference anymore. So, focus on the next thing, the next step. But as I\u2019ve said, the chance of this happening again, one in a million. <\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

A dejected South Africa looked to be heading to defeat against England at the 2023 World Cup before Du Toit\u2019s half-time team talk rallied them<\/p>\n

DAVID RAMOS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to be in a set-up, in an environment like that again; the way we struggled in the semi-final and got to the final, and then how things played out.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ah, that semi-final against England that South Africa came so close to losing. Within the camp, Du Toit\u2019s contribution to that win is fondly spoken about. Picture the scene inside the changing room at half-time. Outplayed in the first half, South Africa are 12-6 down and in trouble. As soon as the players sit in their places, Rassie Erasmus, the head coach, let\u2019s them have it, reminding them he\u2019s got replacements who are ready to play. <\/p>\n

The players are positioned according to their number. From the left, there\u2019s Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi and then Du Toit. After Erasmus has spoken, there is an embarrassed and almost sullen silence. Some sit with heads bowed, others stare vacantly in front of them. Bottles of water and Lucozade stand untouched by their feet. Du Toit stretches out his legs, draws them back in and he then speaks. This is an event in itself. \u201cI had never seen Pieter-Steph like this before,\u201d Mbonambi would say later. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s get up,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just sit around. F*** it, man, come together. For f***\u2019s sakes. You must decide for yourself. Are you going to f***ing stay or go? Play and get some excitement and talk to each other. Everyone\u2019s f***ing scared. If you\u2019re afraid, say so. We\u2019ll make a f***ing plan.\u201d <\/p>\n

We\u2019ll make a plan, exactly what his father had said to him at a tough moment in 2015. <\/p>\n

Erasmus could hardly believe what he\u2019d heard. \u201cPieter-Steph\u2019s never done that. When he does that all of a sudden, my talk, what I said there, is irrelevant. Pieter-Steph du Toit just said, \u2018Get up.\u2019 Sorted, Rassie, move out, go and sit in the coaches\u2019 box. Pieter-Steph had spoken.\u201d No 8 Duane Vermeulen was just as taken aback. \u201cFor a guy that doesn\u2019t say much, you see how special the jersey is to him.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Du Toit is helped up by Faf de Klerk after scoring for South Africa during the 2019 World Cup<\/p>\n

WARREN LITTLE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

This was one of the pivotal scenes in Chasing the Sun 2, the TV documentary about the 2023 World Cup victory. After the team had somewhat fortunately squeezed through against England, Du Toit thought about what he\u2019d said at half-time, including the swear words, and how it had been filmed. \u201cWhen I got to the hotel, I told my wife, and she said, \u2018It\u2019s OK\u2019. I just said if they put it in the documentary, they have to give context, because you can pull something out of context and it doesn\u2019t make sense. Luckily, they gave the context and it\u2019s something that happened. It\u2019s part of our team. It brought us together on the field and helped us through that game.\u201d <\/p>\n

What was the context? <\/p>\n

\u201cWe normally have a system,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen we come in at half-time, the players have a minute or two to ourselves. We relax and then we split into forwards and backs\u2019 meetings. After that, the different coaches will make some points. This time, we didn\u2019t have a minute for ourselves. Rassie just spoke to us. Why were we not delivering what we promised. Then he just called the reserves next door. I remember there was a table in the middle, Jacques [Nienaber, coach] was standing by the table, and the medical staff, and everyone was just standing there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not making a plan. We were not speaking. We were not creating solutions. I was looking around, and something came over me, and I just spoke up. I didn\u2019t know what to say. I just wanted us to be more together, and that\u2019s probably the first thing that came to mind. It\u2019s not always about the words that come out, it\u2019s more the intention to find solutions. For everyone to be awake, to get excited because we had this big opportunity to win a semi-final, get to a final. That was the big cause.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

Du Toit has ensured his name is etched in World Cup folklore with his exploits across two tournaments<\/p>\n

ADAM PRETTY\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

The childhood that he remembers is idyllic. He was the eldest of four boys and the tallest. The one that was called Pieter-Stephanus, the eighth in the family. His own first-born is now the ninth Pieter-Stephanus. It sounds like a tradition that comes with responsibility. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s responsibility,\u201d he says. \u201cI would just say this is how life happens and my personality went with that. I was the oldest, I took the lead in certain stuff but there have been points in our lives where I have followed my brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI give credit to my parents. The best thing they did for me is that they didn\u2019t say, this is the tradition and you\u2019ve got to follow it. I see the register in my father\u2019s office, all the Pieter Stephanus du Toits. It\u2019s nice, but it was never said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to call your son Pieter-Stephanus. You\u2019ve got this responsibility.\u2019 This was never the way. You just want to feel part of something, and that\u2019s what makes this special.\u201d <\/p>\n

In one of his favourite memories, he is 10 or 12. It is a Saturday afternoon at the farm and he is watching the Springboks on TV. At half-time, they rush to the small, improvised pitch in the garden. He and Johan against their younger brothers, Anton and Daniel. The rule is that the younger ones only need to touch the bigger boys while Pieter and Johan must tackle. <\/p>\n

In the late afternoon, Pieter-Stephanus got the braai going and the boys played until it was time to eat. \u201cI would lie on the grass, looking up at the stars, praying and wishing that I would become one of the best Springbok players in the world,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was just a wish and, of course, you don\u2019t know you\u2019re going to get there but that\u2019s what keeps you excited, this dream, this small flame burning inside.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Pieter-Steph<\/p>\n

Du Toit is the eldest of four boys<\/p>\n

INPHO\/<\/p>\n

They fished for carp nearby, left the fishing rod lying on the bank, then ran as fast as they could when the carp dragged the rod into the water. Their granddad made an outboard engine and fixed it to a boat. With that boat, they dragged each other on tubes, getting stuck in the reeds. And Pieter-Steph\u2019s dream of playing for the Springboks wouldn\u2019t go away. With his size, coaches said he should play in the second row but, in his mind, he was a flanker. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s had so many good experiences with the Springboks. \u201cMy dad\u2019s father, Pieter-Stephanus, known as Piet-Spiere, played 14 times for South Africa, so I always believed it was possible,\u201d he continues. \u201cMy first cap was against Wales in Cardiff and that was special because my grandmother was alive at the time and she told me that my grandfather had played against Wales in Cardiff. The best thing about playing for the Springboks is when your family are there and you see the excitement they get out of it. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy brothers are always there for me and that binds us. Winning the World Cup in 2019 was unbelievable and then in 2023, the pressure we were under against France in the quarter-final, England in the semi-final and New Zealand in the final. Winning that left you with a very satisfying feeling afterwards. Now I see my kids and the excitement they get from seeing me in the Springbok jersey, what it means to them, and I don\u2019t know why they\u2019re so mad about this, but I was the same when I was their age.\u201d <\/p>\n

Then he remembers the other days, the tougher, less satisfying times. The losses to New Zealand (57-0) and Ireland (38-3) in 2017, the two dummies he bought from Ben Youngs in 2016, the loss to Japan in Brighton, 2015. Days and moments that can\u2019t be forgotten. And he\u2019s had 18 rugby-related surgeries. Ankles, knees, shoulders, sternum, one terrible experience with acute compartment syndrome that could have ended his career. These times, he says, are as important to him as the good days. Without them, the good times wouldn\u2019t have meant so much. <\/p>\n

There have been head impacts and concussions. Does the toll worry him? \u201cConcussion is part of the game,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had a few but as a rugby player you just want to play. Sometimes you don\u2019t say stuff because you want to put on that jersey. It\u2019s not always right because you may be putting yourself at risk. That\u2019s a decision you take. It\u2019s on your own terms and you\u2019ve got to take ownership of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Time has passed and now there\u2019s a team meeting he needs to get to. I turn off the tape recorder and, off-handedly, ask if he thinks Ireland will recall Josh van der Flier for the match at the Aviva Stadium in three days. It\u2019s an innocent question that brings to attention his inner Springbok. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be ready for whoever Ireland select on Saturday,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cPieter-Steph,\u201d I say, \u201cthat doesn\u2019t tell me much.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d he smiles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday, March 13, 2015, dawned under a clear blue sky in the Western Cape. It would get hot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-290504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}