Jaco Pretorius (born 10 December 1979) is a retired 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 ...

outside centre.

Biography

Pretorius was born in

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 ...

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 ...

in 1979. He began playing for the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

in 2001 and served as the Springboks Sevens captain in 2006. In 2007, he was part of the Emerging Springboks team that won the IRB Nations Cup. He played two games for

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

in 2008 before signing a three-year deal with the Bulls; his debut game was February 14 against the Queensland Reds. The team won the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

and the Super 14 Final the following year. They also won the 2010 Super 14 Final, though Pretorius was forced to sit out two games into the season due to a fractured eye socket. In 2011, after fourteen years of playing rugby, Pretorius announced he would be retiring due to a back injury.

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Golden Lions players Rugby union players from Johannesburg Rugby union centres Rugby union wings South Africa international rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for South Africa {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub