CJ van der Linde
Profile:
Date of birth: 27/08/1980
Place of birth: Welkom, South Africa
Height: 190cm Weight:122kg
Position: Prop
Debut: v Scotland in 2002
Teams: Western Province, Cats, Cheetahs, Stormers
Biography:
CJ van der Linde (born 27 August 1980 in Welkom, South Africa) is a South African rugby union footballer. His usual position is prop. He played for Leinster Rugby in the international Magners League from 2008–10, and currently plays for the Stormers.
He made his debut for the Springboks as a 22 year-old on November 16, 2002 in match against Scotland at Murrayfield, which South Africa lost 21 to six. He earned another cap for South Africa that year, playing England at Twickenham.
He next played for the Springboks in 2004, against Ireland in a two test series in South Africa. He then played against the Pacific Islands team in Gosford. He was subsequently named in the Springboks' 2004 Tri Nations Series squad, and played in three matches during the series. He then earned another five caps for South Africa during the end-of-year Northern Hemisphere tests.
He played 11 times for the Springboks in 2005 including mid-year matches against France and in the 2005 Tri Nations Series. After playing for the Springboks in the 2006 mid-year rugby tests he was named in the 2006 Tri Nations Series squad.
On November 26, 2006, he scored his first try in international play against England at Twickenham. The play started near the England's five-meter line as van der Linde received a skip pass from South African fly-half André Pretorius and broke an attempted tackle from England's Josh Lewsey.
Van der Linde signed a 3 year contract with Leinster in Autumn 2008, with the Irish province supplying him with a rented bungalow in Glendalough. Unfortunately, Van der Linde was sidelined for most his time with Leinster due to a recurrent big toe problem, though this didn't discourage rumours of his adventurous dancefloor antics in Dublin's budding nightclubs.
He is one of the strongest members of the Springbok side, being able to bench press 200 kg. Van der Linde also possesses a great pace, having scored 2 tries from the half line in the 2007 Super 14.
CJ Van der Linde made his debut for the Stormers in Saturday's Neo Africa Tri series match against the Sharks at Newlands in Cape Town. Van der Linde joined the Stormers this season after plying his trade in Ireland for the past few years.
Images:
CJ van der Linde
CJ van der Linde
CJ van der Linde
CJ van der Linde
CJ van der Linde
CJ van der Linde
CJ van der Linde