Versatile Sharks prop Thomas “Tank” du Toit has joined the Springboks in Japan on Tuesday, replacing the injured Trevor Nyakane in the World Cup squad.
Nyakane tore a calf muscle in the Boks’ 23-13 defeat to the All Blacks last weekend and will play no further part in the tournament.
Forwards coach Matt Proudfoot admits it’s a big blow to the squad, saying: “It’s really sad for Trevor, he had a tremendous season.
“He worked incredibly hard and comfortably made his transition into a really serious international tighthead [from loosehead].
“He is a great guy in the group and a guy who’s going to be missed.”
FULL BACKING: Proudfoot. Photo: Aubrey Kgakat/BackpagePix.
Proudfoot, though, believes Du Toit will bring his own flavour as the Boks gear up to face Namibia in their next match on Saturday.
He says of the 24-year-old Sharks player: “Thomas has been with us for a period of time in the build-up, he has the ability to play both sides and that was important in our decision [to call him up].
END OF THE ROAD: Prop Trevor Nyakane's Cup is over. Picture: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix.
“Trevor fulfilled that role for us.
“His [Du Toit’s] evolution to perform that role is well developed and we trust him to bring his own skill-set to the team.
“He is a very destructive ball-carrier, very good over the ball, defensively he’s got a lot of energy. He is very powerful on the loosehead side and very strong on the tighthead side.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/StrongerTogether?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StrongerTogether #RWC2019 #RSAvNAM pic.twitter.com/f2Ddc4cHrM
— Springboks (@Springboks)
Nyakane, meanwhile, will continue his rehab in South Africa and once fully recovered, will be on standby again.