Thomas du Toit remains on standby for the Springboks but, for now, his focus is on quickly learning the ropes at Bath.
The 2019 World Cup winner believes moving to the Premiership will only make him a better player and has been blown away by the environment he now finds himself in.
Du Toit, who has 18 caps to his name, has come over to England with his wife and two children and, while disappointed not to be at a second World Cup, the tight-head has very few complaints about his new life.
Even having to sit on boxes as makeshift chairs in his new house cannot take away from his enthusiasm.
“I've been at the Sharks for 10 years so all I really know is Kings Park so I am excited to call another place home,” he said.
“It's been an unbelievable experience and I have been loving it, loving the club, loving the boys, loving everything here. I am excited to get into the season. It's been long enough for me to be out of games. For a prop you need to continue moving forward otherwise you will get slack and fat and stop playing well!”
Tu Toit made his debut for Bath in yesterday's Premiership Cup fixture against Northampton. It was his first competitive game since the Sharks' season in the United Rugby Championship finished in May.
The specialist tighthead currently weighs about 20 stone (128kgs), but the man they call ‘The Tank' admits he may have to get leaner if his experience of the practice match against the Ospreys is anything to go by.
“It is physical, it is a quick game and if that means losing a bit of weight then that will be the case.”
Experiencing another new culture was one of the main driving factors in him signing for Bath and Johann van Graan, du Toit revealed.
“Johann was part of the reason why we came but there were definitely other factors. My wife and I have been to Munster, 2016/17, so we have experienced the Irish culture, we've also been to Toulouse, so we have experienced the French culture, so this was the only culture we hadn't experienced.
“And there were a couple of other factors. In the URC, it was very difficult to travel, and in France there is a lot of rugby, not that that was a bad thing but we wanted to have as much time as possible together as a family, and the Premiership allows for that and it is a great competition also.
“I have chatted to some of the boys and they rate it so unbelievably high. There are no bad teams in this competition, if you are off by small margins you will get 30-40 points against you no matter who you play.
“So I am excited to be in a competition like that, and obviously Bath is a beautiful place, it is green all around, and they've got some great players over here and some even better coaches, so I am excited for this journey and to become better as a rugby player and try and offer as much as I can.
“It is a step-up for me, there is no mucking around,” he added. “Everything happens quickly and there is a lot of information. These guys learn so fast and it is something I need to get better at. I have a lot of growing to do. Everything is new to me and I am trying to learn as fast as possible.”
Bath came highly recommended to him – van Graan enticed him with photos of the stunning views at Farleigh House – and fellow South Africans, Francois Louw, a team-mate of du Toit's at RWC 2019, and Michael Claassens, who was also a popular figure at The Rec, couldn't speak highly enough about the place.
“I know Flo very well especially from the last World Cup and we have chatted quite a lot. Michael Claassens, I remember him saying to me it was the best 2-3 years of his life, it was the few years he enjoyed the most.
“There has only been positive talk about Bath and I can vouch for that, it has been a great few weeks.”
While getting up to speed with Bath's playbook and systems, du Toit is still involved with the Springboks' World Cup planning remotely, and would be ready to slot in over in France should the need arise.
“I am still on standby, they've still got five props and everyone is fit and ready to go. I think like everyone will probably tell you playing for your country is really first prize and I will always be ready to represent my country if the call comes.
“It would've been nice if I'd have been able to go to the World Cup but it is also very nice that I can spend some time with the guys (at Bath) and get to know them and get into the rhythm of things.
“I would really like to see what this team can do especially from where we were last year. I excited to see if we can actually win a trophy.”
