Thomas du Toit on the Lions call that would leave him feeling 'weird'

Will Stuart has started each of England’s last 10 Tests and reached 50 caps for his country in last weekend’s 68-14 destruction of Wales. But even better times lay ahead, according to his Bath team-mate, Thomas du Toit, who is backing him to wear the Lions No3 jersey his summer.

Having had a stop-start international career under Eddie Jones, Stuart has got the backing of Steve Borthwick and has repaid that faith by being one of England’s most consistent performers in the last 12 months.

Stuart made his debut against France during the 2020 Guinness Men’s Six Nations, replacing Kyle Sinckler in the closing stages of the game, and has been England’s go-to tight-head ever since Dan Cole fell out of favour.

And du Toit believes that Stuart has got the run on the likes of Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong, who missed most of the Six Nations through injury, and Scotland’s Zander Fagerson in the battle to the Lions’ first-choice tight-head against Australia.

“I’m completely biased when it comes to Will, I am a big fan of the way that he plays. But if he doesn’t start for the Lions, it’ll be very weird for me,” said fellow prop du Toit, fresh from his try-scoring exploits in Bath’s Premiership Rugby Cup final win against Exeter.

“I think he is brilliant. I think he is an all-rounder, a hard worker, a good scrummager. I just think he is definitely one of the best props, tight-head specifically, in the world at the moment.

“And I think he is showing that it is not a one-off, he is showing it week in, and week out, and I think he is going to get better and better.”

Stuart has impressed as the cornerstone of an England scrum that had a 97% success rate in the Six Nations, the best in the competition, after only losing one of their 35 feeds, while his footwork in broken play has also left defenders sat back on their heels, with a filthy sidestep against Italy going viral on social media.

When your prop can side step like this 😍 pic.twitter.com/saTBPpz5Sv

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 10, 2025

For Bath Head of Rugby Johaan van Graan, Stuart is reaping the rewards of his “incredible hard work” during the two-and-a-half-years they have worked together.

He said: “Same as every single player who started on July 11th, 2022 (the first day of van Graan’s project), we said improve your body composition, improve your fitness, and Stuey has worked really hard on his body, to be available, and then he has worked so hard on the pitch.

“He understands his game, he understands his strengths and his weaknesses.

“If you think back to the Autumn, I think he started every single game and he started every single game of the Six Nations. That is incredible.

“What I think has worked really well here at Bath is that we have got some phenomenal tight-heads, so the fact that we can change our squad and have guys doing different roles I think has improved his game.

“But all credit to Stuey, he is now a Test prop who has played 50 Test matches and not a lot of people can say that.

“He’s a true professional, he understands what he needs to scrummage, he understands what he needs to carry the ball, to use those lovely feet of his, and he has also got lovely hands.

“In my view, he has been one of England’s best players, so well done to him, and well done to England for what they have done with him at England, and obviously he is a big part of what we do at Bath Rugby.”