Every moment counts for Du Toit; Rugby 365

Having walked a long road to get back in the frame, Pieter-Steph du Toit knows that he has to make every moment he gets in the Springbok jersey count. The young lock who turns 23 later this month has just two Test caps to his name, both of which he earned at the end of 2013, and having battled his way back from a serious knee injury he is poised to earn his third off the bench against Argentina at Kings Park on Saturday. Having played his first competitive rugby in several months in a Currie Cup warm-up game for the Sharks last week, Du Toit has a very small window in which to make an impression and prove that he deserves a place in coach Heyneke Meyer's World Cup squad. He says that he has never been in better shape, and is determined to make the most of whatever opportunity he gets this weekend. "I am hoping to get as much [gametime] as I can, I just want to get on the field and play. If you play for the Springboks it doesn't matter if you come back from a year's injury or two weeks injury you will play your heart out. "I am in the best physical shape I have ever been in my life so I am looking forward to the match," he said. He admitted that dealing with the mental side of his recovery was the toughest part, but added that he is fully confident that he has made a complete recovery having come through his outing for the Sharks last week without any issues. "It was a lot of fighting between me and the biokineticist at the Sharks about which matches I should play and which matches I shouldn't play but in the end I found inner peace with myself and I am just glad that I am able to play this game. "We have got a very good set-up at the Sharks where we do our rehab and stuff and it is always a positive getting the body stronger and trying to prevent further injuries as well. "I spoke to the coaches and they said that if I get through the game there might be a chance for me to play this game so I just went full-on and gave my best. "When I am on the field I always give 100%, so I felt quite confident and I didn't have any pain or any stress about the knee or any part of my body," he said. Ever since he made his Springbok debut Du Toit has been viewed as the natural successor to Victor Matfield in the No.5 jersey, but in his absence Cheetahs lock Lodewyk de Jager has stepped up to give Meyer some welcome depth in the position. "I think there is very good competition in the lock department at the moment, a few weeks ago we were stretched there but I think he [De Jager] is doing quite a good job there. "I know what is expected of me if I get on the pitch and I am looking forward to the match," said Du Toit. Although 'disgusted' with the narrow defeats to Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks, Du Toit is confident that the Springboks will be able to bounce back in what will be their final home game ahead of the World Cup. "I was so disgusted that we lost, it is never nice seeing your teammates lose a match that they prepared so hard for and trained so hard every day. "I think there are small details we can fix and we have been training hard and trying to fix those things for this weekend, and hopefully we can win every match going forward. "I don't think the Springboks fear anything, we are ready for anything and we are prepared to take each match as it comes," he added. Meyer has made no secret of the fact that the No.5 position has been a major concern, given how important the role is in line-out dominance, and although there is not much in the way of Test experience beyond Matfield he does at least have some worthy options in De Jager and Du Toit. For Du Toit the time he gets on the park this weekend will be crucial as he looks to prove that he is ready to live up to his potential and push for a spot on the plane to England later this year. By Michael de Vries, in Durban