Born on 20 August 1992 in Cape Town, Pieter-Steph du Toit grew up on the historic Kloovenburg estate in Riebeek Kasteel, where his family farmed in the picturesque Swartland region.
He is the latest in a long line of Pieter Stephanus du Toits, a naming tradition stretching back to the 1820s, and rugby runs deep in his veins.
His grandfather, Piet “Spiere” du Toit, was a Springbok prop who earned 14 Test caps between 1958 and 1962.
Du Toit’s rugby journey began at Laerskool Riebeek Kasteel before he moved to Hoërskool Swartland, where he played primarily as a second-row forward.
His professional career started with the Sharks in 2012, and he later moved to the Stormers in 2016, becoming a cornerstone of their forward pack.
Currently, he plays for Toyota Verblitz in Japan’s Rugby League One. Internationally, du Toit made his Springbok debut against Wales on 9 November 2013.
He transitioned from lock to flank in 2015, a move that unlocked his true potential and transformed him into one of the game’s most devastating blindside flankers.
Siblings
Du Toit is one of four brothers.
The sibling who shares the closest rugby bond with him is his younger brother, Johan du Toit, who is also a professional rugby player.
Johan plays as a back-row or lock for the Stormers, and the brothers have enjoyed the privilege of being teammates at both the Sharks and the Stormers over the years.
Pieter-Steph has spoken of the “unbelievable experience” of sharing the field with his brother, a dream they cherished growing up on the farm.
The two other brothers are Anton and Daniel.
While not as prominent on the professional stage as Pieter-Steph and Johan, Anton has made a name for himself in South African rugby circles, representing Maties (University of Stellenbosch) in the Varsity Cup competition, where he won a championship with the team in 2019.
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Career
Du Toit’s most famous off-field battle came in 2019 when he suffered a torn ACL.
Facing a career-threatening situation where his own body parts were deemed insufficient for reconstruction, a surgeon in the USA successfully used a part of his father’s hamstring to repair his knee—a testament to the lengths his family would go to support him.
On the field, his performances have been legendary.
He was a key member of the Springboks’ 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning squad, earning the World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year award that same year.
He repeated the feat in 2023, delivering arguably the defining performance of his career in the World Cup final against New Zealand, where he made an astonishing 28 tackles without a single miss, powering the Springboks to a tense 12-11 victory and a record-equalling fourth Webb Ellis Cup.
He was also part of the victorious British & Irish Lions series win in 2021 and has won the Rugby Championship in 2019, 2024, and 2025.
Accolades
Most notably, Du Toit is a two-time recipient of the World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year award, winning in 2019 and 2024.
This achievement makes him the first South African to win the award twice and joins him with Beauden Barrett as the only other player to have achieved this feat.
Only legends Richie McCaw and Dan Carter have won it three times.
Beyond his individual awards, his team achievements are extraordinary.
He has won two Rugby World Cup titles (2019 and 2023), a British & Irish Lions series victory, and three Rugby Championship titles (2019, 2024, 2025).
In 2024, he was also named in the World Rugby Men’s 15s Dream Team, alongside several of his Springbok teammates.
In 2025, he added the Midi Olympique World Player of the Year (Oscar Monde) award to his collection, cementing his status as one of the most decorated and respected players of his generation.
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