Huge praise for Bok: 'One of the best players in the whole world'
REACTION: The Springbok prop Thomas du Toit has been hailed by head of rugby Johann van Graan as Bath’s matchwinner after his 40-minute cameo helped turn the tide in a 31-22 victory over Saracens.
Bath will take on Northampton in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup on Friday after England backs Henry Arundell, Joe Cokanasiga, Ben Spencer and Ollie Lawrence ran in second-half tries at the Recreation Ground.
But crucial to the last-16 triumph was Du Toit stepping off the bench at half-time to rescue a scrum that had been providing Saracens with a stream of penalties.
With the South Africa tighthead prop on the field, Bath’s set-piece was revitalised as they began to win penalties that provided the platform for victory and he was named man of the match despite his limited time on the field.
“Thomas was fantastic in that second half,” said Van Graan of the 30-year-old Springbok who is joining the Sharks at the end of the season.
“If you look at his two years and nine months that he’s been at Bath, in my view, he’s become one of the best players in the whole world of rugby, and he showed it again against Saracens.
“He was absolutely phenomenal in the scrum, in defence and attack. That’s why you build a squad. You call on 20-50 guys on a weekend and all credit to the players.”
Ben Spencer’s 59th-minute try was a pivotal moment that propelled Bath 19-10 ahead, but the audacious length-of-the-field attack was only launched after Saracens’ Andy Onyeama-Christie had the ball dislodged from his hands as he neared the home line.
It was effectively a 14-point swing, and Spencer said: “It was definitely a big turning point because they could have scored 15 seconds earlier.
“Our scramble defence really got us out of jail, and that’s the kind of hunger that goes a long way in the group.
“Sometimes in knockout rugby, you just need to get the job done, and that’s what this feels like.
“We are under no illusions that we are going to have to be a lot better on Friday night to get through to the semifinals.”
Saracens fought for everything and were only truly beaten when Arundell ran in his second try in the 80th minute, but Bath ultimately had too much class.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: “We’ll probably have some big moments in the game which we’ll regret.
“I know we’ve got a good team, but we’ve been really Jekyll and Hyde all year. I can’t remember which one is the good one, but we were that one today! If we can keep doing that for the rest of the year, then it’ll be something to build on.
“To go toe-to-toe shows our team what they’re capable of, and of course, we’re going to regret that we lost. But overall, I loved the way we competed against a really top side.”
