In Sale Sharks’ final game of 2024 against Bristol Bears, Du Preez made his 64th consecutive start in the competition.
Rob du Preez’s record
The one-Test cap Springboks back has been a key cog in Alex Sanderson’s backline, switching between starting roles in the centres and at fly-half.
Against Bristol, he lined up in the number 13 jumper to extend his record and weighed in with 15 points from the tee as the Sharks marched to an impressive 38-0 victory at Ashton Gate.
Du Preez’s 64 consecutive starts in the Premiership surpasses Ross’ tally of 60 straight appearances, also for Sale, while the late Tom Voyce made 58 starts for Wasps between 2003 and 2005.
The 31-year-old has racked up well over 130 appearances for the Premiership side since his arrival from the Durban-based Sharks and in June last year, he opted to extend his contract with the club.
While there is some doubt around the future of his brothers, Dan and Jean-Luc, at Sale, Robert triggered the option to extend his contract by a further year with the English outfit.
“I’m massively excited to be a part of this group for the next two seasons,” he said at the time.
“I was already committed for next season, but when I was offered an extra year it was an easy decision. My wife and I have loved our time in Manchester.”
Sale Sharks on a roll
The victory over Bristol means that Sale start the new year in third place on the overall log after six wins from nine games.
It was also the first time that the Bears failed to score a single point in a competitive game for eight years and director of rugby Sanderson said that the result was no fluke.
“People might say the Bristol result was a fluke,” he said. “Proving people wrong, it’s a motivator for me and a motivator for the group.
“We’ve not been the most fashionable team in the past and we’re trying to make a bit of a statement. I’d like to think that the experts would have backed us to have a resurgence with a full squad.
“We need to cement that now and that’s by backing it up and guaranteeing a top-four placement before we go back into Europe.”
Next up for Sale is another tricky assignment with a trip to Kingsholm to tackle Gloucester.
“To go again is really hard,” said Sanderson. “It’s not cut and paste or rinse and repeat, because it’s a different team and a different challenge.
“You want to but you can’t bottle that winning feeling, so you’ve really got to dig into what is driving you and find things you can latch on to, whether it’s going down to the West Country, playing in front of the Shed.
“They’re a potent attack and we’ve put that challenge to the lads. But it’s not just that with Gloucester, they’ve got the best maul in the competition and they are hyper-aggressive at the breakdown.”
