World Cup-winning Springboks great Fourie du Preez retires
After a 15-year professional career that included world, southern hemisphere and Super Rugby titles, South African great calls time on his 34th birthday
South Africa’s Rugby World Cup-winning scrum-half Fourie du Preez announced his retirement on his 34th birthday on Thursday, ending a 15-year professional career that included world, southern hemisphere and Super Rugby titles for a player rated at one time the best number nine in the world.
Du Preez played his final game for the Springboks at last year’s Rugby World Cup, where South Africa lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions New Zealand.
He ended his career at club level with Suntory of Japan, where he also won two national titles.
“Rugby has been such an integral 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 released by the South African Rugby Union.
Du Preez was a pivotal member of South Africa’s World Cup-winning team of 2007. He also won the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship in 2004 and 2009, a series against the British & Irish Lions in 2009, and three Super Rugby titles with the Pretoria-based Bulls.
