EXCLUSIVE - Pieter-Steph du Toit to miss Toyota's run-in

World Player of The Year Pieter-Steph du Toit has returned to Japan and club duty with relegation candidates Toyota Verblitz but will not be re-registered to play for Steve Hansen’s side.

The 32-year-old has not played since the Autumn Series in November and was de-registered by his club in January after undergoing surgery in his homeland.

The cash-rich Aichi outfit drafted in ex-Toyota player and former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, South African Adre Smith and New Zealand prospect Blair Ryall to ease their injury concerns.

RugbyJP can exclusively reveal that South Africa’s two-time World Rugby Player of The Year and back-to-back World Cup winner will not be registered to play in the club’s two remaining regular season games against fellow strugglers Honda Heat and Malcolm Marx’s title-chasing Kubota Spears. 

Toyota are currently in 10th position with 12 losses from 16 games and will face the ignominy of being in the relegation two-leg play-off if they finish in the bottom two.

Hansen and Ian Foster’s beleaguered team, which includes Aaron Smith, NRL convert Joseph Manu, ex-Scotland international Richie Gray and Japan star Kazuki Himeno, are on 20 points, two more than 11th-placed Honda going into their crucial clash on Sunday.  

Greig Laidlaw’s basement outfit Urayasu D-Rocks sit bottom in 12th position on 10 points.

Springboks star du Toit would need to play in one regular season game to be eligible for a potential relegation play-off but RugbyJP understands that the South African talisman will not be re-registered to play against Honda or Kubota. Therefore he will be unavailable if Toyota are involved in the relegation series.

Japanese clubs are only able to select three players who’ve been capped by international countries for a matchday squad. Smith, Gray and Hooper have occupied those slots in du Toit’s absence.  

The 12th-placed team in division one will face the side which finishes top in division two. This means that Urayasu D-Rocks will play Freddie Burns’ Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, Rhys Patchell’s NEC Green Rockets or Quade Cooper’s resurgent Kintetsu Liners with the final two rounds in the second tier set to decide who tops the table.  

The division one side which finishes 11th will face division two’s runners-up. Toyota or Honda will play the Shuttles, Rockets or the Liners in the play-off.  

Ex-Stormers star du Toit will be in attendance at Toyota’s one remaining home league fixture against Kubota on Saturday 10 May at Toyota Stadium in Aichi.

A club official told RugbyJP: “Unfortunately, due to an injury, Peter will not be able to play in the (Kubota) match but he will be there to show his hospitality to all the fans.”

Picture courtesy of JRLO