Sale’s Du Preez brothers: It’s an emotional end of an era – selfishly we wanted Jean-Luc’s move to fail!

At the entrance to Sale Sharks’ Carrington training centre, a slogan is painted on the wall to remind those who visit of the club’s ethos and values.

Part of it reads: ‘A team. A community. A family.’

And as Rob, Dan and Jean-Luc du Preez can readily attest to, the Sharks absolutely do live and breathe by those words. Since 2019, Sale has been not only a team, but also a community and family for the three Springbok brothers. Soon, however, there will be a parting of ways.

Hulking back-row forward Jean-Luc, 29, will leave his fellow twin Dan and eldest sibling Rob, 31, behind at the end of this season for a move to France.

This week, Jean-Luc was named in South Africa’s latest squad for the summer internationals against the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia, a reflection of his fine form with the Sharks, as he hopes to add to his 14 caps, the last of which came in 2018. With time of the essence, the Du Preez brothers want to end their spell at Sale on a high by winning the Premiership title.

On Saturday, Alex Sanderson’s side face Leicester in their semi-final clash. It could well be the trio’s last game together.

‘If I stop and think about it, I do get emotional,’ Jean-Luc tells Mail Sport. ‘It would be really special if we could play together our whole lives, but it’s just not the way things happen. It was definitely one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.

‘But I need to look after my family. This is the best option for us at this moment in time going over to France. I’ve always wanted to go there and experience a new culture. We’re really looking forward to it as a family, but I’ll definitely miss these two!’

Remarkably, in a game of blood and thunder, Rob will make his 73rd consecutive Sale start today – a club record and a run which dates back to 2022.

‘I don’t think I’ve played 73 games in my Sale career,’ Dan says, smiling. ‘Rob trains the least but plays the most!’ Rob refutes that claim: ‘I do what I have to do!’

Jean-Luc and Dan are key figures in the Sharks engine room.

Centre Rob, who not only shares his father’s name but also has the same number of Springbok caps (seven), is something of a paternal figure to his twin brothers. ‘He’ll do most of the talking,’ says Jean-Luc, nodding in Rob’s direction.

‘I guess it’s a bit of an end of an era, but more so for the twins than myself. I left home first, whereas they’ve always been together,’ Rob says. ‘Selfishly, I was hoping something would break down with Jean-Luc’s move! But that was me just wanting us to stay together for as long as possible. We knew they’d eventually be a time when we’d go our separate ways.

‘The club has been great for Jean-Luc and he’s been great for them. He’s leaving with everyone’s blessings. We can all agree how good he’s been. In the last couple of weeks when we’ve known our time here is coming to an end, I think he’s really stepped up. The games together are pretty special.

‘We see each other every day at training. Away from here, we do see each other, but we also all have our own families. It’s nice to come into work with your brothers.’

The three brothers have five children between them with another one on the way. All have been born and raised in Manchester, their home away from home.

‘Dan is the self-confessed braai master,’ says Jean-Luc, speaking of their love of South African barbecue. ‘He’ll braai in rain, wind, sleet or snow! We go to his house with the families and all the kids running around.

‘It’s chaos. In these last eight weeks now I know I’m leaving, I’ve really tried to embrace it a bit more. To end my time here by winning the Premiership would be a dream come true and a highlight of my career. We were in the final two years ago but just fell short.

‘Alex reminded us this week we’ve been in four semi-finals in the last five years which is testament to what this club is building.’

Rob and No 8 Jean-Luc both start against Leicester, with Dan poised to cause havoc from the bench. Sale are also boosted by the return to fitness of England and Lions flanker Tom Curry, who begins in the back-row alongside his twin brother Ben. Sale’s team undoubtedly has a family feel with the Du Preez and Curry brothers at its heart.

The Sharks, whose only Premiership title came 19 years ago with a 45-20 win over Leicester at Twickenham, were narrowly beaten by the Tigers on May 9, having comfortably beaten them at home in December. This semi-final looks too close to call.

Michael Cheika’s Tigers have home advantage, but Sale are in form and look to have timed their run to the play-offs nicely. Crucially, they have a fully fit squad too.

Sale owners Simon and Michelle Orange and Ged Mason took the Du Preez brothers out for dinner to mark the upcoming end of an era. Unsurprisingly for a trio of huge South Africans, steak was on the menu. Jean-Luc is Simon Orange’s favourite Sale player.

‘Some players don’t adapt or acclimatise in places as well as us,’ Rob adds. ‘I think we’ve done that very well. We’ve all spent most of our adult lives here, so it’s definitely become home. I think the team is better off when the twins are in it. I probably take it for granted when we’re all on the field at the same time.

‘If we were able to win the Premiership – and I fully believe we can because the belief in the squad is big – it would be justification for all the sacrfices we’ve made.

‘We’re hoping this is not our last game together and we’ll have one more. We believe that will be the case. If it does come to that, I assume it will be emotional.’