Jean-Luc du Preez

Jean-Luc du Preez (born (1995-08-05)5 August 1995 in Durban, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Natal Sharks.^[1] His regular position is flanker.

Career

Youth

Du Preez was selected in a number of KwaZulu-Natal youth squads whilst still at school. At primary school level, he was selected for their squad that played at the 2008 Under-13 Craven Week competition. He also played in the premier schools competition in South Africa – the Under-18 Craven Week in three different seasons; he made two appearances at the 2011 event in Kimberley, three appearances at the 2012 event in Port Elizabeth and a further three appearances in 2013, scoring two tries in their match against Border.^[2]

In both 2012 and 2013, Du Preez was selected to represent a South African Schools team. In 2012, he played in their matches against France,^[3] Wales^[4] and England^[5] and in 2013 he made appearances against France^[3] and Wales, in which game he also scored a try.^[6]

In 2014, he was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad that played at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand. He played off the bench in their 61–5 victory over Scotland^[7] and started their next match against hosts New Zealand, helping South Africa to a 33–24 win.^[8] He sustained a blow to the head during the match^[9] and missed their final pool match against Samoa^[10] and their 32–25 semi-final match against New Zealand.^[11] He recovered in time for the final against England and played off the bench just after half-time, but could not prevent South Africa losing the match 20–21 to finish the competition as runners-up.^[12]

He returned to domestic action to play a key part in the Sharks U19 side that played in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship; he made twelve appearances and scored tries a total of seven tries,^[13] including two in their match against Golden Lions U19,^[14] to help them qualify for the semi-finals, where they lost 20–43 to the Blue Bulls U19.^[15]

In 2015, he was again named in a 37-man training squad for the South Africa national under-20 rugby union team^[16] and started for them in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015.^[17] He was included in the squad that embarked on a two-match tour of Argentina.^[18] He didn't feature in their 25–22 victory over Argentina,^[19] but started their 39–28 victory a few days later.^[20]

Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.^[21] He started all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; a 33–5 win against hosts Italy,^[22] a 40–8 win against Samoa^[23] and a 46–13 win over Australia^[24] to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Du Preez started their semi-final match against England, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession.^[25] He played off the bench in their third-place play-off match against France, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.^[26]

Natal Sharks

Du Preez made his provincial first class debut on 21 March 2015, starting the match for the Sharks XV in their 53–0 victory over the Border Bulldogs in the opening match of the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition.^[27] He also started their matches against Free State XV^[28] and Boland Cavaliers^[29] and played off the bench against the SWD Eagles.^[30]

References