Jean-Pierre du Preez (born 9 November 1994 in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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 ...

) is a South African

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 for the

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. His regular position is lock. He previously played for the and

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

Career

Youth

Du Preez represented the at the 2012 Under-18

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The to ...

tournament 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 ...

, scoring a try in their match against the . Despite still being at school, he was also included in the squad that played in the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship a few months later, starting six of their matches as they reached the semi-finals of the competition. In 2013, Du Preez made the short move to the

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

-based . He was once again heavily involved at the Under-19 level, starting eleven matches for the s in the

2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

, helping them reach the final of the competition, where they lost 23–35 to . In addition, he also made two appearances for the side in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship. Du Preez was included in the Golden Lions' squad for the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Cu ...

, but failed to appear in the competition. He made nine appearances for the during the round-robin stage of the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring a try in their match against . He missed the final regular season matches of the season when he picked up a four-week suspension following a dangerous tackle on scrum-half

Stefan Ungerer Stefan Ungerer (born 23 November 1993) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Pro14. His regular position is scrum-half. Career Youth level Ungerer represented the at Under-13, Under-16, Under-19 and Under-21 level in various ...

, but returned to the line-up for their semi-final clash with the . He scored an early try for the Lions in the match, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Lions falling to a 19–23 defeat and being eliminated from the competition.

Golden Lions / Lions

In 2015, he was included in the squad for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

and was named on the bench for their Round Two match against the . He made his

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut, coming on as a substitute just after the hour mark.

Sale Sharks

Following two years with . It was confirmed in November 2020 that du Preez had signed for

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

team

on a two-year contract.

Glasgow Warriors

Du Preez signed for

on 2 December 2021 for the 2022-23 season. He made his debut in the pre-season friendly against Ayrshire Bulls. He then made his competitive debut on 23 September 2022 against Cardiff Rugby at

Scotstoun Stadium Scotstoun Stadium is an athletics and rugby union stadium in Scotstoun, an area in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow Warriors have trained at the facility since 2009 and have played their home games here from the 2012–13 season ...

, becoming Glasgow Warrior No. 344 when he came on at lock in the second half. Glasgow put 8 tries past the Welsh side, winning 52-24.https://twitter.com/GlasgowWarriors/status/1573412350442586112/photo/1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Preez, JP 1994 births Living people People from Roodepoort South African rugby union players Rugby union locks Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Rugby union players from Gauteng Free State Cheetahs players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Sale Sharks players Glasgow Warriors players