Du Preez played for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition in South Africa and the Bulls in the international Super Rugby competition. Du Preez was widely regarded as the best scrum half in the world and one of the best players at the time playing in world rugby. Du Preez made his provincial debut during 2001 for the Blue Bulls in a match against the Leopards in the Currie Cup competition. It was in 2003 that he made his Super 12 (now, Super Rugby) debut for the Bulls side, against the ACT Brumbies. The following year he made his test match debut for the Springboks in a match against Ireland. In 2006, Du Preez was voted SA Rugby Player of the year by the South African Rugby Football Union. He was nominated for IRB player of the year as well. Du Preez has won the IRB u/21 World Cup in 2002, the Currie Cup final three times ('03, '04 & '09 having been withdrawn from Currie Cup action in '06 by the then Springbok coach Jake White when the Bulls shared the cup), won the Super 14 title in 2007, 2009 and 2010, the Tri-Nations in 2004 and 2009 and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. In 2009, Du Preez was voted SA Rugby Player of the year by the South African Rugby Football Union for a second time. In 2013, Fourie was once again called up to the Springbok squad and impressed with the speed at which he got the ball out of the ruck as well as the accuracy of his pass. 2014 was a year characterised by a spate of injuries that did not allow for him to partake in the Springbok set-up. He has been included in the Springbok squad for the 2015 Rugby Championship, but once again was injured just before the opening match. After missing most of the last season for Club & Internationals he was included in the Springbok RWC Squad. On March 24th, 2016 he decided to retire from rugby at the age of 34.
(LS April 2016)
Career
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Bulls Scrum Half |
2001 - 2010 |
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South Africa Scrum Half |
2004 - 2015 |
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Tokyo Sungoliath Scrum Half |
