Fourie du Preez Retiring?

The following from News24:-
"Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez appears to have called time on his career.

Du Preez, who scored a memorable try to sink Wales at last year’s Rugby World Cup, finished his tenure at Japanese club, Suntory Sungoliath, this past weekend.

He had been playing for the Japanese outfit since 2011.

A SARU spokesperson told Sport24 on Wednesday that while Du Preez has not officially announced his retirement, he is not contracted to SARU or any South African franchise.

Du Preez, 33, who was a stalwart at the Bulls before he left for Japan, played 76 Tests for the Springboks since making his debut in 2004.

Jesse Kriel, a team-mate of Du Preez at the Springboks, took to Twitter to congratulate him after playing his last game in Japan, as did Du Preez's former Bulls team-mate, loose forward Dewald Potgieter."

His contract with his Japanese Club is up and he has no SA contract - neither any with any European team - so it seems that he has just bowed out of rugby.

Fourie du Preez was a great player in his career - but also overstayed his welcome on international level.  He played in 6 tests between 2011 and the start of the WC last year and was at best just above average in those games - nothing like he used to be earlier in his career.   Maybe one in this regard has to bear in mind the constant injuries he suffered since 2012.

     

What rubbish. This from the guy who was promoting the three footed klutz Reinach. There was no semi for us without a bit of real skill and timing by Vermeulen and F du Preez. He remains our most effective scrumhalf  by a large margin.

 Reputation scrumhalf you mean - dodgy head.   He was not a patch on the scrumm ie he used to be. 

 Mozart I fail to understand why you bother feeding him.

Fourie was one of the stand out Bok players of RWC 2015. Without him the whole campaign would have ended in blushes.

I agree that it is time for him to step aside just a pity we have no one of his calibre to pick up the reigns.

Will never forget the first game against the poms that I went to at RWC 2007. Almost a one man demolition job.  

 How typical of South African supporters. No NZ'er would ever rubbish their great ex-players. South Africans, on the other hand, always seem to be wringing their hands in anticipation of the day that they can start rubbishing sport heroes after retirement or in the twilight of their careers. What is really sickening is that the media and ex-players also to enjoy the ride at the crest of the "rubbishing wave". Funny enough, it is quite often players who seem to have an "axe to grind" with some of the players. Often also against players who took their places. 
The strange thing, though, is that you would struggle to find an international scribe/ex-player/player/coach/ex-coach who would do that. It is also South African scribes, etc.

 BokBF
I was at that game in 2007 as well and it was the game where the Springboks backline came alive - I think because of the impact of Eddie Jones.   As I said before Du Preez was outstanding at that time.  
However, in the tests after 2012 he was not performing on the same level - and every honest person would accept it.  As to the recent WC campaign Du Preez was better than Ruan Pienaar, but that does not mean he was a star performer.  What irked m e about the WC was the playing style in which he was the main implementer.  Playing a predictable passing game back to the forwards was easily predictable and totally unproductive.
Ceradyne
What are you braying about donkey brain.  I made an honest comment - not rubbishing Du Preez.   Ever heard about playing playing passed their sell-by dates - unfortunately Du Preez was one off those as well.  They damage their own reputation by doing just that.          

He was a different class from everyone else we had during the World Cup Mike, my only regret was that Faf De Klerk didn't manage to have that much time to learn from him.

Some fans do not see what is in front of them. Instead, they make stereotypical opinions based on dogmatic factors like age or size- and then selectively take on board "facts" that suit their own point of view.
They will compare a Curry Cup performance to international performance. This is not comparing apples with apples.
Even Ruan Pienaar would outperform our Curry Cup scrumhalf's with one arm tied behind his back. Look how Pienaar has stood out for his club over recent years- perhaps their best player. 
Dupreez was actually injured and not at 100% in the tournament- but it was a dam sight better than anything else would put at 9 in a world Cup tournament. 

 Mike you were full of personal insults directed at him prior to rwc. Telling everyone how fat and unfit he was. No he did not set the backs alight in the 07 game. He played a conservative game with up and understand aimed at ....Robinson I think it was. We scored 3 tries 1 by a forward.
I agree that in the last word cup we could have been more dynamic with the ball but I think that this had more to do with the coaches short comings than Fourie's age speed or size. He was head and shoulders above any other 9 we could have put on the field.
You need to  stop perseverating   on go the geriatric player stance that comes up time and again. It is really boring and diminishes some good stuff you have to offer.

 Mike, I'm with the rest on this, FdP was our best...Lots better than Pienaar and Reinach still. We are going to miss him big time in the years to come. His bad games were due to injury.

At least Japan appreciated FDP. Hopefully he gets into coaching. We need someone with a brain in the coaching box. 

Yeah, Du Preez surprised me a the 2015 World Cup! I was expecting him to be slow and off the pace, but he was not! He stepped into the captaincy role unexpectedly and did very well. Many players at the World cup under performed, but he was not among them! One of the best rugby brains in the game!  

Klop, du Preez, Schalk et al played as instructed by the coaches & we don't have anyone to replace him . Be nice if he returned to captain the Bokke, even if its for this season only .

 
In all honesty boys ... it would not have taken much to impress against the likes of Pienaar.

Let's be fair here ... Du Preez was way past his best at last years WC and hasn't seen any decent form for at least 5 years. For him to stand out as one of the best players in Meyers team should surely show you the caliber of those selected.

A sorry sad lot of elderly folk pretending to play international rugby.

Among many others he too should not have been there to begin with.

His retirement is waaaaaaaaaaaaay over due.




 

 
Oh look ... blobbie speaking through his backside again.

At least he's consistent.

No blob Du Preez should not come back and captain the Boks! Not that I think he would, they basically had to drag him kicking and screaming into the WC mix! He was a great player, and one of the most humble rugby players I have ever met, but the sands in his rugby hour glass are down to a few granules. 
Lets see how things pan out for Reinach and especially Faf De Klerk in Super Rugby this year, and start looking forward to the future.

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