Robert James du Preez (born 30 July 1993, in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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 ...

tournament in 2011 before joining the Sharks Academy. He played for the side in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. 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, IRB Junior World Championship, an 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 twe ...

. He started the pool matches against the

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(kicking six conversions) and

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

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

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

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. 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 p ...

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

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

to join on loan for their 2014 Varsity Cup 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 2014 Varsity Cup, Du Preez decided to remain in the Western Cape, 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 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 to join his family. He had a breakout season in 2018, becoming a regular starter for his new team almost immediately, displacing Curwin Bosch 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 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 du Preez (rugby player born 1963), Robert – is a former South Africa national rugby union team, Springbok scrum-half (rugby union), scrum-half that made seven appearances for South Africa between 1992 and 1993. He also has two younger twin brothers – Dan du Preez, Dan and Jean-Luc du Preez, Jean-Luc – that were both included in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship. 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 South African expatriate rugby union players in England Sale Sharks players 21st-century South African sportsmen Stellenbosch RFC players