Thinus Delport (born 2 February 1975, 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 ...

) is a South African ex

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 who played at

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

or fullback for

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He started his career 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 ...

from U21 level and he made his senior debut in 1997. Playing in the

Super 12 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 ...

for the

formerly known as The Cats. Delport began his English career at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. Whilst there he started the 2003 Powergen Cup Final in which Gloucester defeated

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

. Delport joined

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

from Gloucester in 2004. Delport left Worcester Warriors in 2007 and became a television rugby presenter He made his international debut on the Springboks' 1997 European tour. However, it was three years before he made his test debut against Canada in East London (2000). Delport also played in the Tsunami Memorial game representing the southern hemisphere alongside some of the world’s greatest players. It was announced in March 2008 that Delport would be moving to Japanese Side

Kobelco Steelers The Kobelco Kobe Steelers are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kobe Steel, and based in Kobe. They were the first ever Top League champions when the League started in the 2003-2004 season. The team rebranded as Kobelco Kobe Steelers ahead of ...

at the end of the season, to pursue a new rugby career there. On 24 June 2010 it was announced Delport had signed a 1-year deal at National 1 outfit Stourbridge as a player coach. After retirement he has also played an amateur game for the Old Patesian veterans, a local Gloucestershire club, in which they beat their rivals: Smiths Industries, in the third team's cup. In 2014 Delport became an ambassador for Project Zulu, a UK based charity running the educational development projects in the

Madadeni Madadeni is a town in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which falls under Amajuba District Municipality Amajuba is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province. The seat of Amajuba is Newcastle. The majority of its 468,040 people sp ...

township, KZN, South Africa. In February 2015 he visited the Madadeni township to host their first schools tag rugby tournament. Delport is also an ambassador and active member of Rugby for Heroes, a UK based charity helping active and retired service men and women make the transition to civilian life, using Rugby as a medium. He works alongside patrons Mike Tindall OBE and Nick Knowles to build up the profile of the charity.

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