Springboks veteran scrum-half, Fourie du Preez has announced his retirement from the sport,
bringing an end to a steller 15-year career.
The 34-year old captained the Springboks to a third place
finish at last year’s world cup in England, after an injury forced Jean de
Villiers out of the tournament.
Du Preez, played 76 test matches for the Springboks between
2004 and 2015. His last game for the Springboks was a semi-final defeat to world
champions, New Zealand at last year’s world cup.
He spent most of his club career playing for the Vodacom Blue
Bulls from 2001 to 2011. He featured 164 times in a blue jersey of the Pretoria
based outfits. His next club was a Japanese club, Suntory Sundoliath where he
played 55 times for the club.
South African Rugby Union (SARU) president, Oregan Hoskins paid
tribute to Du Preez describing him as one of the most decorated South African
players to ever play the sport.
He said he hopes Du Preez will continue contributing to the
rugby fraternity.
“His contribution to the game in South Africa, at all
levels, will be remembered for many years with a host of young scrumhalves
having had the opportunity to play with and learn from him. Hopefully he will
return to the local game and contribute in other capacities in the future,” Hoskins
said in a statement.
Du Preez said there were lots of thought made before coming
to this decision.
“Rugby has been such an intergral part of my life in the
last two decades, so a lot of deliberation and thought have gone into my
decision to retire,” Du Preez said in a statement.
During his playing career, Du Preez received numerous accolades.
He was a member of the Springbok team that won a rugby world cup in 2007 at France.
He has been named SARU player of the year twice in 2006 and in 2009.
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