VIDEO: Bulls youngster the next Pieter-Steph du Toit?

VIDEO: Reinhardt Ludwig experienced his first taste of the Springbok environment in his first alignment camp and aspires to be like his Bok hero Pieter-Steph du Toit.

His growth as a leader and a player at franchise level has been rapid after the 22-year-old was entrusted with the Bulls captaincy following injuries to the Springbok duo of Elrich Louw and Ruan Nortje.

He is ranked 14th in the United Rugby Championship for line-out steals won (3)  and will be a key player in that department when the Bulls face Leinster this weekend.

The utility forward has mostly been deployed at No.7, much like how one of his Bok heroes Pieter-Steph du Toit started his illustrious career.

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“Pieter-Steph du Toit is one of my heroes. I look up to him as a person, player, and human being,” Ludwig said.

“I know he played lock for the Sharks in his younger days.

“I also remember there was a time he played No.7 for the Boks where the team didn’t do so well – he got a lot of heat from the media.

“The only way you get better at your game is you need the opportunity to grow and learn – you need game time.

“It’s not always going to be perfect, but as long as you learn and grow – that’s the biggest thing.

“I was privileged to be at the [Springbok] alignment camp last week.

“I really learned a lot. To see how they manage players and what they demand from your position specifically.

“It was just great to learn from that environment.”

The 22-year-old also gave insight into how he experienced his first Springbok alignment camp.

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“It was amazing to be in that professional environment and to see how they operate.

“To see how they think and how they want their players to play. I learned a lot.

“The areas I need to work on are more position-specific stuff.

“Defensively coaches Jerry [Flannery] and Felix [Jones] gave us a lot of things we need to focus on in the next couple of games.

“They said there are 12 weeks before the next Springbok alignment camp in Stellenbosch.

“Just before then, we have 12 weeks to work on those things to make us better.

“They’re very professional and know everything we do which is quite scary.”