Cheetahs hooker jumps ship to rivals Kings

Cape Town - Cheetahs hooker Jacques du Toit has jumped ship to South African PRO14 rivals, the Kings, ahead of the 2019/20 season.

Bloemfontein-born and Grey College-schooled 25-year-old Du Toit made five appearances for the SA Under-20 team in 2013, before going on to play Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup and PRO14 matches for the Cheetahs.

Du Toit will be hoping for a victorious farewell in Saturday's Currie Cup final when the Free State Cheetahs host the Golden Lions in Bloemfontein.

Kick-off is at 17:00.

Du Toit announced his move to the Eastern Cape in a heartfelt Instagram post on Monday.

The Cheetahs open their 2019/20 season on Friday, September 27 against the Glasgow Warriors at home (18:05), while the Kings will host the Cardiff Blues on Saturday, September 28 at the Nelson Mandela Stadium (15:00).

View this post on Instagram

Mixed feelings is the only way I can describe how I’m feeling. I’m really excited about heading into my second Currie Cup final with the Cheetahs. It will however be my last week with the team before joining the Southern Kings for the next Pro 14 season. I’ve been involved with the Cheetahs for almost 5 years, excluding my 3 years as a junior and what a roller coaster it’s been. Bloemfontein is the place where I was born, raised, married and became a dad. It’s also where I trained and played my heart out every chance I got. I’m not someone who often speaks about myself or my setbacks because I would rather focus on the positive things in life. Although I have enjoyed my time at the Cheetahs there were some tough times too. Not being selected for the team and dealing with long term injuries are things that many young sports people have to face. We connect our worth team selection and winning matches and we feel devastated when our name is not called or when we lose. I haven’t had the opportunity to wear the starting jersey as much as I would have liked, but I had to make a choice that my attitude and my worth was connected to my purpose and my faith. So if I play 80 minutes or sit on the bench for 80 minutes, my goal is always to keep on working towards the person and the player God created me to be. Ready to give it my all this week ???? I’m leaving it all on the field By God’s grace #newbeginnings

A post shared by Jacques Du Toit (@jacquesdt02) on Sep 1, 2019 at 10:32pm PDT