Has Rennie found New Zealand's answer to Pieter-Steph du Toit?

OPINION: Springbok utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit will go down as one of, if not the best player in South African rugby history, and the All Blacks might have found their answer to him in Tupou Vaa’i.

Du Toit and Vaa’i both played lock and flanker during the first leg of the Nations Championship, showing their versatility and ability to adapt across both positions.

Vaa’i played 160 minutes after missing out on New Zealand’s opening round clash against France, whilst Du Toit racked up 240 minutes across the Boks’ three Tests against England, Scotland and Wales, respectively.

Head-to-head match-ups during the Nations Championship

Despite playing fewer minutes, Vaa’i had 14 line-out takes compared to Du Toit’s 11, with both players stealing three line-out balls.

Du Toit made 50 carries whilst Vaa’i made 23, with Du Toit carrying 186 metres, of which 105 were post-contact metres, and Vaa’i racking up merely 41 in that department.

Du Toit also edged the defenders beaten department with seven, whilst Vaa’i got past three.

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The New Zealander edged his South African counterpart in the tackles made department with 50 compared to Du Toit’s 43, with both players executing four dominant tackles in the process.

On the scoring front, Du Toit outscored Vaa’i by two tries to zero and edged the try assist numbers as well by two to one.

It would’ve been interesting to see what the stats would’ve looked like had Vaa’i played all three Nations Championship Tests, but considering the above highlighted numbers, it shows that his work rate and versatility is right up there with one of the best the game’s ever produced.

So have the All Blacks found their own version of Du Toit? The numbers would suggest that they did, but the true answer would come during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series next month, where they will face each other (barring injury) in all likelihood in all four Tests.