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By News24 Wire

Wire Service


Double trouble! Pieter-Steph says it’s an honour to play with brother

The world's best rugby player's younger sibling has had to bide his time.


Springbok  Pieter-Steph du Toit says it is an honour to share the field with his brother, Johan du Toit at the Stormers.

Johan, who is just 24-years-old, has made two Super Rugby appearances off the bench so far in 2020 in the Stormers’ opening match victory against the Hurricanes and then this past weekend’s win over the Jaguares at Newlands. Pieter-Steph (27), meanwhile, has started all four matches.

Also a player who can move between lock and flank, Johan has had to be patient in waiting for Super Rugby chances since making his move to the Stormers from the Sharks in 2017.

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Those opportunities seem to be coming now, though, and Pieter-Steph says it is something the pair had thought about before.

“For us to have the opportunity to play together for the Stormers is a massive honour,” he said.

“It’s the team we supported while growing up, so it’s something we couldn’t be happier and prouder about.”

Pieter-Steph is expected to be named in the starting line-up for Saturday’s clash against the Blues at Newlands, but coach John Dobson knows that he will have to give the Springboks’ most valuable player a rest at some point.

“If you love what you do, you get the energy from certain places,” Pieter-Steph said.

“At this stage, the body does get tired, but we’ll hopefully make a plan in getting a rest later on in the season. At the moment, I’m just doing my job.”

This will be the Stormers’ fourth outing at Newlands in 2020, and so far they have conceded just 7 points in 240 minutes of rugby at the venue.

“We’re trying to do Newlands proud, especially because it’s the last year here,” Pieter-Steph added.

“We’re trying to create something different here and not give tries away. The Stormers has been a good defensive side in the past years so we’re just trying to keep that going forward.”

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