SA News: Du Toit inspired by Piet 'Spiere'

Cape Town - Pieter-Steph du Toit says he hopes to follow in the footsteps of his legendary grandfather, Piet "Spiere" du Toit, after he was named on the Springbok bench for their Test against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

The late Piet "Spiere" (Muscles) du Toit, who was a tighthead prop, represented the Springboks in 14 Tests between 1958 and 1961, including the series victory over the All Blacks in 1960.

"I draw a lot of inspiration from the fact that he was a Springbok and I'd really like to follow in his footsteps. Hopefully I can leave an even bigger mark than he did," the 21-year-old Sharks lock told Die Burger's website.

Du Toit was on Wednesday included on the Springbok bench for the clash at the Millennium Stadium and will make his Test debut if he gets game time.

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer wants to groom Du Toit as a future lock partner of Eben Etzebeth.

"Pieter-Steph could become a top No 5 lock if he gains experience to fulfil a leadership role in the lineouts," said Meyer.

The coach believes Du Toit could become one of the world's best ever locks, and the youngster hopes he can live up to those expectations.

"It's nice knowing someone believes in me. Hopefully I can make my dreams come true," said Du Toit.

Kick-off is at 19:30 (SA time) on Saturday.

Teams:

Wales:

15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins

Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Liam Williams

South Africa:

15 Patrick Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 JJ Engelbrecht, 23 Willie le Roux.

Culled from Sport24.

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