Canadian international centre Guiseppe Du Toit is joining Trinity Western University (TWU) men’s and women’s rugby programs as a backs coach, starting this fall.
Du Toit comes to the Langley-based school having already played 14 games with Canada, including five in a starting role. Most recently, the product of Maple Ridge, was a mid-tournament injury replacement for Canada at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where he came on as a late-game substitute against eventual champion South Africa.
Professionally, Du Toit has spent each of the last two seasons playing with the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby and is preparing for his third year with the Canadian club this spring. In his first two years with the Arrows, he’s appeared in 16 matches, including starting all five games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
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“The path and discipline that Guiseppe has had in his professional and international career is what I’d love our Spartans to follow,” says Andrew Evans, TWU’s Director of Rugby. “Guiseppe’s faith and character and values are right in line with us at Trinity Western and he’s really excited about developing our Spartans as Complete Champions.
“Of course, we are also extremely supportive of his professional playing career with the Toronto Arrows. He will be fully available to the Arrows, but he’s also keen to continue to develop our Spartans while he’s located in Toronto.”
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Du Toit joins a Spartans coaching staff that also includes fellow Canadian internationals Hubert Buydens, who will coach the forwards, and Julia Sugawara, who will be an assistant coach with the women’s program. Both Buydens and Sugawara return this fall, having both coached with the Spartans last year. An announcement about a new defence coach will be made later this week.
“It’s a growing Canadian rugby program and I’m thrilled to be a part of that and to help shape it,” Du Toit said. “At the same time, the coaching experience will no doubt shape me as a player, which makes this an invaluable opportunity. It’s a new rugby program, but they’ve had lots of success already and there’s no ceiling on how far this program can go.
“I think it’ll test my rugby knowledge and know-how. I’ve worked with excellent coaches, so now to be able to translate what I’ve learned and share that with the players will be pretty special. And while there’s the rugby component, there’s so much more at TWU. It’s about developing people and that’s what this program is all about.”
Du Toit, 25, played collegiate rugby at the University of Victoria, and is set to earn his Bachelor’s of Science in Biology degree this fall. The Canadian star made his international debut against Chile on Feb. 11, 2017, starting at centre in a 36-15 win. He also played with Canada’s U20 side in 2015 and first donned the senior Maple Leaf with Canada ‘A’ in 2016.
