Sale Sharks scrum-half believes that fellow Springbok Dan Du Preez will be recalled to the test arena after showing incredible form in the English Premiership.
De Klerk had fallen down the pecking-order before his move to Sale in 2017, before going on to become a key component of the Sharks team and catching the eye of Boks head coach Rassie Erasmus.
He has since gone on to make the No 9 jersey his own in the Springbok squad and is backing his fellow countryman Du Preez to follow a similar trend after helping Sale shoot up the table.
“Dan is playing amazing and it hasn’t just come all of a sudden. He had a massive year last year and was very unlucky to drop out injured before the World Cup. Duane Vermuelan is still in the picture but as his stats show, Dan is playing phenomenal rugby. He has so much going for him and there really isn’t a weak point and the du Preez boys bring it every weekend. Dan is definitely being looked at and if you perform the coaches will look at you. It’s not a like a few years ago when they would just focus on South African based players. Now, if you do well at your club you are going to get a chance and that is the main motivation,” he said while speaking about Du Preez.
Du Preez looked like he was ready for the international stage once again last year in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup in Japan, only to sustain an injury that saw him miss out on the tournament.
However, his return has been incredible and with the change in the Springboks’ backroom-team meaning that Felix Jones is keeping a close eye on European-based players, de Klerk feels that it is a perfect time and situation for Du Preez.
“It’s great that Felix is based in Dublin and will service all the guys in the UK and Europe and he can give us background on what we want to do with the Springboks and what the coaches expect from us in our positions. It is nice to know there is someone here to look after us. We have been lacking this kind of thing in the last few years because we would rock up to the Springbok camp before a test match and the guys in South Africa would have done their alignment camps and we were playing catch-up,” he added.
Du Preez will be hoping to add to his four caps come the summer, and he certainly has the backing of his teammate. However, before than the duo along with Du Preez’s brothers will be hoping to help Sale continue their march in the Premiership if it resumes amid the spread of the coronavirus.
