Robert James du Preez (born 30 July 1993, in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

) is a South African professional

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 English Premiership side . His regular position is fly-half.

Career

Early career

Du Preez represented the at the Under-13 Craven Week tournament in 2006 and at the 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 2011 before joining the Sharks Academy. He played for the side in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. In the 2012 competition, Du Preez was the top points scorer in the competition scoring seven tries, thirty conversions and fifteen penalties for a total of 140 points. In 2013, Du Preez was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

. He started the pool matches against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(kicking six conversions) and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(scoring two conversions and four penalties). He was an unused substitute in their final pool match against hosts

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but returned to the starting line-up for their semi-final match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and came on as a substitute in the third-placed play-off against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Upon his return to domestic action, he weighed in with 108 points for the side during the

2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

competition to finish third in the top scorers list. In 2014, he moved to

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

to join on loan for their

2014 Varsity Cup The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univ ...

campaign. He once again topped the scoring charts, scoring 84 points during Maties' run to the semi-final of the competition. He was also named the "Player that Rocks" for the tournament. Instead of returning to

at the conclusion of the

, Du Preez decided to remain in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

, signing a contract with until 2016. He was included in their senior squad straight away and made his first class debut in 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 ...

match against the , also scoring a try to help his side to a 28–15 victory.

2018 season

Du Preez moved from the Stormers to the Sharks for the

2018 Super Rugby season The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...

to join his family. He had a breakout season in 2018, becoming a regular starter for his new team almost immediately, displacing

Curwin Bosch Curwin Dominique Bosch (born 25 June 1997) is a South African professional rugby union player for the in the United Rugby Championship and in the Currie Cup. He can play as a fly-half or a fullback. Rugby career 2010–15: Schoolboy rugby B ...

from his place at fly-half, causing Bosch to move to fullback. On 31 March 2018, Du Preez scored 38 points, including a try against the at Eden Park in Auckland, allowing the Sharks to beat the Blues 63-40. He was named by the new South African head coach

Rassie Erasmus Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup campaign, doubling up on his duties as ...

as one of 17 uncapped players in the 43–man Springbok squad for the 2018 June internationals. Du Preez's two younger brothers were also named in the squad, with Robert, Jean-Luc and Dan Du Preez making history as the first set of three siblings to be named in a Springbok squad together.

Personal

Du Preez's father – also called

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

– is a former

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...

scrum-half that made seven appearances for South Africa between 1992 and 1993. He also has two younger twin brothers –

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

and Jean-Luc – that were both included in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the

2014 IRB Junior World Championship The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Auckland, New Zealand by rugby's governing body, World Rugby, then known as the Internation ...

. Du Preez's younger brothers are currently his teammates in the Sharks. He attended Catholic University school in 2009 on an exchange programme.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Preez, Robert 1993 births Living people Afrikaner people Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Durban South Africa international rugby union players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South African rugby union players Western Province (rugby union) players Alumni of Kearsney College