Neil (Niles) de Kock (born 20 November 1978) is a retired

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 ...

footballer who last played at scrum half for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. He has claimed ten caps for

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 ...

. Before moving to the

Guinness 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 ...

in 2006 he had gained a reputation for hard work and personal integrity from his days in South African rugby, representing

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

and the

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 ...

franchise the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

, having started his professional career at the

Griffons Griffon may refer to: * Griffin, or griffon, a mythological creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle Businesses * Griffon Aerospace, an American aerospace and defense company * Griffon Corporation, a multinational cong ...

Early life

Born 20 November 1978 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, De Kock was educated at Boston Primary, Bellville and The Settlers High School, Bellville before attending

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

. Initially failing to secure a contract with his native

side, he made the journey to the

Free State Province The Free State, known as Orange Free State until the 28th of June 1995 when its name was changed, is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer ...

in search of

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 ...

rugby to start his professional career.

Playing career

Griffons 1999-2000

De Kock spent a season playing in

playing for the

in a team that was to ultimately to produce four

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in Lukas Van Biljon, Gavin Passens and Dean Hall as well as De Kock. His performances saw him offered the chance to return to his home union to represent Western Province.

Western Province/Stormers 2000–06

De Kock was to spend 6 seasons with

making 52 appearances in a team that won the

in his first two seasons with the side. In 2001, his second season with Western Province he made the step up to

(then Super 12) level rugby with the associated

franchise, going on to make 49 appearances. Also in the 2001 season, De Kock won his first full international honours with the

against Italy. At international level a frustrating period followed, first in a sequence games sitting unused on the bench, followed by a knee injury offering further chances for his rival at Super 12 and national level,

Bolla Conradie Bolla Conradie (born 24 February 1978) is a former South African rugby union footballer. See also *List of South Africa national rugby union players South Africa national rugby union team players hold several international records. Several p ...

. He forced his way back into contention, appearing in the 2002 Tri Nations series, starting two games, appearing from the bench in a third and scoring his maiden test try. The following season saw De Kock continuing to battle for his shirt at Western Province, Stormers and national level, making only one start and a single bench appearance for the Springboks. He was though selected for the

Rugby World Cup 2003 The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

South Africa squad, making one starting line up and appearing from the bench three times, as well as scoring his second international try. Succeeding seasons brought further regular appearances for De Kock for Western Province and the Stormers, but opportunities to fight his way back into the Springbok side were limited and in 2006 he made the move to the northern hemisphere, signing for

in time for the 2006–07

season.

Saracens 2006–2017

De Kock made his debut for

against

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

on 30 September 2006. In his debut season at Saracens, De Kock saw off strong competition from the likes of Fijian

Mosese Rauluni Mosese Nasau Rauluni (born 26 June 1975) is a retired Fijian rugby union footballer. He usually plays at scrum half, and played for Saracens F.C., Saracens in the Guinness Premiership in England. He has played for Fiji national rugby union team, ...

and the Englishman Alan Dickens to establish himself as first choice scrum-half, making 25 appearances for the club. He quickly formed an effective partnership with New Zealander Glen Jackson at fly-half, yielding performances that put him contention for the club's player of the season. For the 2007–2008 season, De Kock's leadership role at Saracens was rewarded as he was named as the playing captain for the season, alongside club captain and England stalwart, Richard Hill. He started as Saracens won their first Premiership title in 2011. He was a replacement as they won further titles in 2015 and 2016. He retired in 2017.

References

External links

Saracens profile

Guinness Premiership profile

scrum.com Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Kock, Neil 1978 births Living people Afrikaner people Rugby union players from Cape Town South African people of Dutch descent Rugby union scrum-halves South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Saracens F.C. players Western Province (rugby union) players Stormers players South African expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England South African expatriate sportspeople in England People from Cape Town