Thinus Delport (born 2 February 1975, in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

) is a South African ex

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played at

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

for

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He started his career playing for the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

from U21 level and he made his senior debut in 1997. Playing in the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

for the

formerly known as The Cats. Delport began his English career at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. Whilst there he started the 2003 Powergen Cup Final in which Gloucester defeated

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. Delport joined

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

from Gloucester in 2004. Delport left Worcester Warriors in 2007 and became a television rugby presenter He made his international debut on the Springboks' 1997 European tour. However, it was three years before he made his test debut against Canada in East London (2000). Delport also played in the Tsunami Memorial game representing the southern hemisphere alongside some of the world's greatest players. It was announced in March 2008 that Delport would be moving to Japanese Side

Kobelco Steelers The Kobelco Kobe Steelers are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kobe Steel, and based in Kobe. They were the first ever Top League champions when the League started in the 2003-2004 season. The team rebranded as Kobelco Kobe Steelers ahead of ...

at the end of the season, to pursue a new rugby career there. On 24 June 2010 it was announced Delport had signed a 1-year deal at National 1 outfit Stourbridge as a player coach. After retirement he has also played an amateur game for the Old Patesian veterans, a local Gloucestershire club, in which they beat their rivals: Smiths Industries, in the third team's cup. In 2014 Delport became an ambassador for Project Zulu, a UK based charity running the educational development projects in the

Madadeni Madadeni is a town in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded t ...

township, KZN, South Africa. In February 2015 he visited the Madadeni township to host their first schools tag rugby tournament. Delport is also an ambassador and active member of Rugby for Heroes, a UK based charity helping active and retired service men and women make the transition to civilian life, using Rugby as a medium. He works alongside patrons Mike Tindall OBE and Nick Knowles to build up the profile of the charity.

References

External links