Currie Cup rules force Gold’s hand at scrum-time
Plenty has been made of Thomas du Toit’s move to tighthead prop during the domestic season. The burly 20-year-old started off as a loosehead at the union. But at the beck and call of SA U20 coach Dawie Theron earlier this year, Du Toit made the challenging swop to the dark side of the scrum.
He has endured a tough time there in the Currie Cup but earlier this week, the youngster made it clear that he was enjoying the challenge and sees himself wearing the number three jumper on a more permanent basis in the years to come.
Du Toit plays off the bench in Saturday’s crunch clash against the Pumas and that decision has everything to do with his versatility. Gerhard Engelbrecht starts at tighthead and Dale Chadwick wears the number one while Du Toit acts as cover for both sides of the scrum.
“Look, the problem is that for the most bizarre reason the squads are 22. I have no idea why; U19 is not like that, U21 is not like that, International rugby and Super Rugby are not like that and yet there are 22,” Gold lamented.
“So if we had 23 we’d have two props on the bench and we would be very clear on what we want to do."
“Ideally we want Thomas to come through this period; we want him to use the Currie Cup which is actually from a scrumming point of view is a tough competition – arguably tougher than Super Rugby in certain games.”
Gold’s words carry some weight as the Currie Cup always serves up crunching local derbies. The tournament has also unearthed some of South Africa’s best front-row talent. In recent seasons, the likes of Steven Kitshoff and Vincent Koch have forced their way into the Springbok fold with strong showings in the domestic tournament. Koch starts at tighthead prop for the Pumas this weekend - having missed out on World Cup selection.
“We had Ballie Swart down here on Tuesday who did some work the guys. Again its now Ballie, Dawie Theron and Pieter de Villiers (the first two having played prop for the Springboks while the latter packed down in the front-row for France) and I think they’re three reasonably knowledgeable individuals considering where they played as well as their coaching pedigrees and they all endorse our idea,” Gold said.
“It’s a work in progress and it’s going to take some time. But the beauty is that Thomas is such a good player that when he comes on at loosehead, he makes a big difference as well.”
The Sharks host the Pumas at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15h00.
Twitter - @gazza_jenks/@ECRSportswave
Facebook - ECRSportswave