Springbok prop Thomas du Toit labelled two of his teammates as “absolute freaks of nature” in a recent interview.
The World Champions have no shortage of brutish athletes. From the immovable Ox Nche, to the sheer size of RG Snyman and the non-nonsense Jasper Wiese, one doesn’t have to look too far.
But for du Toit, there are two other unsung heroes in the Springbok squad. Speaking on the Maul or Nothing podcast, the revered scrummager hailed the physical abilities of Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Andre Esterhuizen.
“Jan-Hendrick is very to the top, he can mostly do everything,” he said.
“You see that guy’s work rate when he runs around, like it is really impressive. But then I would probably throw in a guy like Andre Esterhuizen.
“He has been labelled this hybrid player. He is also actually a freak. He is monstrous, and what he did in the Premiership [with Harlequins] was also spectacular.
“Every time he touches the ball for the Springboks, something happens. Look at that carry when he scored that try against Beauden Barrett. He shrugged him off. It looked quite easy, but for a guy like him it probably was quite easy. I would say between those two, definitely absolute freaks of nature.”
Having put in a solid 41-minute shift, du Toit watched New Zealand’s capitulation in the second half of the Wellington Test from the bench.
The versatile prop reflected on the great combination of brutal forwards and silky backs that resulted in the record victory. The Boks’ ‘slow poison’ adage certainly was a factor.
“I know we use that word gel quite loosely, but it really felt like everything came together that day,” du Toit reflected.
Every coach and player wants that every week, but the reality is it doesn’t happen. But in that moment in that game, you could really feel like it was a shift.
“It felt like the game worked out very well for us. We tried to nullify everything they did in the first half, we really tried to work them as hard as we possibly can and when our bench came on, they did such a good job at getting across the line and actually scoring the tries.
“It felt like we did the foundation work in the first half, and then we just let loose in the second half. The one doesn’t come without the other… it really gelled well.”
