Jean-Luc focused on Currie Cup glory

Due to his Rugby Championship duties with the Springboks, Jean-Luc hasn’t featured in a lot of the Sharks’ Currie Cup campaign but his availability for the knockout stages has been a massive boost for the Durban side. He has amassed 10 Springbok caps since his debut last year – and was a standout for the Sharks in Super Rugby this year. 

This weekend’s final will be a real Du Preez family affair – as Sharks coach Rob du Preez and his twin sons Dan and Jean-Luc go up against their older brother Rob Jr, who will pull the strings at flyhalf for Province this weekend.

Jean-Luc says they've had some fun in their family chat group, after his older brother led Province to victory over the Sharks in their dead-rubber clash two weeks ago in Durban.

“There’s always a bit of banter on the family group throughout the week. Rob always seems to play well against my father, he did as well when he played against my Dad for the Pukke. Hopefully that doesn’t happen this weekend again,” the flank said Tuesday.

All jokes aside, Province will be banking on Rob Jr to produce another spectacular performance in the final. To counter that, the Sharks will need to stifle their forward pack and the Du Preez twins could hold the key.

While their loss to Province was disappointing, the result was meaningless with the Sharks already guaranteed a home semi-final. Jean-Luc says they’ve taken some lessons out of that loss but insists that it doesn’t give Province an edge going into this clash.

“Our goal was to win until we reach the final. In saying that, I don’t think the loss to Province was a bad thing. We’ve left that behind and got past the Bulls – now we’re in the final and that was the goal at the beginning of the season.”

“There is a bit of tension but I don’t think much will change. We must stick to what we’ve done to get us to this point. There are a few tweaks that we’ve need to make from that Bulls game, but no major changes,” Jean-Luc said.

Jean-Luc's brother Dan has been knocking on the Springbok door for just as long. Injury may have hampered his chances, but Dan came close to making his debut for the Springboks during the Rugby Championship. Jean-Luc says his twin-brother has benefitted from a couple of good games in the Currie Cup.

“I think Dan was a bit disappointed not getting a cap but I think he’s done very well coming back from the Boks. He’s had two of his better games in the Currie Cup campaign. Hopefully we will get to pull the Green and Gold over our heads together on the end of year tour.”

Before they can think about the Springboks’ end of year tour, the Durban-based Du Preez family members will be looking to end the season on a high by winning the Currie Cup final.

“It’s a massive game, my first final was in 2014 with the Baby Boks – but nothing of this calibre. We’re really looking forward to the game, it’s going to be a good one.”

The Sharks host Western Province in the Currie Cup final on Saturday. Kickoff is at 16h00.

Tickets are on sale from R90 at the Sharks ticket office and computicket.