Cornell du Preez (born ) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n-born

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. His regular playing positions are Flanker, No 8 and currently loose forward, he plays for

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

and represents

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

internationally.

Rugby union career

Early life

Born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, du Preez attended

North-West University af , Noordwes-Universiteit , image = https://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/NWU-Logo-SW.png , motto = ''Dit Begin Alles Hier (Afrikaans)'' ''Gotlhe Go Simolola Fano (Setswana)'' , mottoeng ...

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

, where he played in the

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

for . He represented the in the Under-19 and Under-21 Provincial Championship competitions and was named in the squad for 2011, without making an appearance.

Professional career

Du Preez joined the on 1 November 2011, where he signed a two-year deal. He was also named in the squad for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

. He was released during the

2013 Currie Cup First Division The 2013 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 June to 11 October 2013. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competiti ...

season to join

Alan Solomons Alan Solomons (born 31 July 1950 in Uitenhage, South Africa) is a former rugby union coach. Law career After studying law at the University of Cape Town, Solomons practised law for 20 years where he was a partner at Sonnenberg, Hoffmann & Galomb ...

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

for the 2013–14 season. Du Preez had a successful first season at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

, racking up 23 appearances and ultimately being named 'Newcomer of the Year'. A serious leg injury sustained in October 2014 during a match against

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

saw Du Preez missing a substantial part of the 2014–2015 season. Du Preez was first assigned to

Edinburgh Academicals The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Pl ...

when not in use by

, and in 2015 was assigned to Heriots. On 13 February 2018 it was announced that Du Preez would leave Edinburgh for English side

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

ahead of the 2018-19 season. On 16 June 2021, it was confirmed that du Preez has left Worcester to complete his move with French side

in the

ahead of the 2021-22 season.

International career

Du Preez was part of the South Africa Under-20s team that played at the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

. However, on 13 November 2016 he was called into the Scotland squad for the Autumn International Series as an injury replacement, having qualified for Scotland through the three year residency requirement, although he didn't take part in any match. He was called up again for the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by NatWest ...

, and made his debut against England at Twickenham before gaining his second test cap the following week in the final day victory over Italy. Du Preez made his first international start in November 2017, wearing the Number 8 shirt in a narrow 17-22 defeat to the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

References

External links

Worcester Warriors Profile

Scottish Rugby Union Profile

* 1991 births Living people South African rugby union players Eastern Province Elephants players Southern Kings players Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Edinburgh Rugby players Worcester Warriors players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Edinburgh Academicals rugby union players Heriot's RC players Rugby union number eights {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub