The Bok team that won the 2007 World Cup was full of players worthy of the title of World Champion – Bryan Habana, John Smit, Os du Randt, Schalk Burger – the list goes on but you get the point.

There is however one man to whom South Africa owes a massive debt of gratitude, the scrumhalf whose decision making and bullet-like service allowed the team to function as such a cohesive unit.

That wee general is Fourie du Preez, and if reports are to be believed he has just played his final game of rugby. Below from Sport24:

A SARU spokesperson [said] 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…

Here’s that tweet from Jesse Kriel:

Dewald Potgeiter chose the same picture to pay tribute to du Preez on Instagram:

I don’t think there’s much danger of that Dewald, anyone remember this from last year?

Then there’s THAT performance against England in the group stages of the 2007 tournament, the Boks running out 36-0 winners in a match that illustrated the full range of Fourie’s skill set.

Say it ain’t so Fourie, but if this was your final curtain call then we owe you a few cold ones by way of thanks.

[source:sport24]