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Cape Town - While all eyes have been on the recovery of Springbok captain Jean de Villiers in Cape Town, Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit has quietly been going about his rehabilitation with the Sharks in Durban.
The 22-year-old was released from coach Heyneke Meyer's squad at the beginning of the month before the match against the World XV in Cape Town, and it appeared then that his Rugby World Cup dreams might be over.
But now, less than a month later, Du Toit has recovered from his knee injury and Sharks coach Gary Gold confirmed on Monday that he would play in Friday's pre-Currie Cup friendly against the Golden Lions in Pietermaritzburg.
Despite being injured, Du Toit has been firmly in the headlines this month when the Sharks confirmed that they will lose the player in October, and it's rugby's worst kept secret that the second-rower is heading to the Stormers for Super Rugby in 2016.
But now the focus will move back onto the field, and how Du Toit goes on Friday night will have a major say in whether or not he is included in the Bok set-up for next weekend's Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Durban.
"Pieter-Steph is playing this weekend. I have absolutely no idea how many games he is going to play. I don’t know what SARU’s plan is, but our plan is that he’s contracted to us at the moment and we’re going to play him this weekend," Sharks coach Gary Gold told media in Durban on Monday.
"I’m really excited to have him back and I’m going to play him as long as he’s with us. He’ll play until he gets called up to the SA team and anyone who gets left out the SA team will come back to us."
There was no word, meanwhile, on the physical state of Francois Steyn as he continues his recovery from a pectoral muscle tear.
