[imagesource: Getty Images]

Despite what English journalist Owen Slot might think, Pieter-Steph Du Toit is arguably the best rugby player on the planet right now.

Slot did rank du Toit fifth in his recent list of the world’s best players (English lock Maro Itoje came out tops), with Cheslin Kolbe nipping in at sixth, but our versatile forward is the reigning World Rugby Player of the Year, and that speaks volumes.

That title is also quite a bargaining chip to bring to the table, and it appears as though du Toit and his agent are leveraging that to land him a sizeable payday with the Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU).

As things stand, confusion and conflicting information surround du Toit’s contract situation, with Sport24 reporting:

Pieter-Steph du Toit exited his Stormers contract on Thursday night with the intention of staying at the union.

Now, that might not happen…

As is stands, though, Du Toit is effectively without a contract and, technically, a free agent.

It was confirmed through WPRU president Zelt Marais, who spoke to Sport24 on Saturday, that Du Toit was no longer contracted to the union.

A 21-day window, that ended at midnight on Thursday, was granted for professional players in South Africa to exit their existing contracts with their unions.

Du Toit was one of three players – the others were Cobus Wiese and Jean-Luc du Plessis – to submit their termination notices to the union.

Rumours that du Toit was offered a massive contract by French club Montpellier have been around for a while, and numbers in the region of €100 000 (just over R2 million) per month for three years have been widely reported.

That equates to €3,6 million, or around R72 million, for the duration of the contract.

Clearly, no South African contract can rival that, and SA Rugby offered the 21-day cancellation window as part of their cost-cutting measures amidst a worsening financial situation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We have already seen marquee names like Malcolm Marx leave for abroad, and local rugby’s brand appeal, both to spectators and advertisers, definitely takes a knock each time a star takes up an overseas deal.

Players that choose to remain in South Africa now face the possibility of a mandatory 43% pay cut, something du Toit may have dodged if he now renegotiates an altogether new deal following his termination notice.

It is believed that Stormers coach John Dobson, along with representatives from the WPRU, are now dealing with du Toit and his agent, and Business Day reports that he is expected to sign at some stage today.

They also report that issues related to du Toit’s image rights, as well as being free to start negotiating with overseas clubs following the 2021 British and Irish Lions series, are what have held the contract up so far.

If a deal cannot be reached, he has that offer in France, and others in Japan, to fall back on.

Losing du Toit would be a real kick in the teeth for those who enjoy watching him week in and week out, and his impact on virtually every match he plays in is plain to see.

How have you made it this far into the day without watching some footage of our world champions in action?

Let’s fix that, with a look back at du Toit’s mammoth Rugby World Cup final performance:

[sources:sport24&businessday]