Career
His regular position is scrum-half. He represented the Blue Bulls as early as primary school level, appearing at the Under-13 Craven Week competition in 2008. In July 2013, he also played for them at the premier South African high school rugby competition, the Under-18 Craven Week held in Polokwane.
He made three appearances and scored two tries in a personal haul of 25 points.
He joined the Blue Bulls Academy after finishing high school and represented the Blue Bulls U19 side in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting ten matches and making two substitute appearances as they reached the final of the competition, where they were defeated 26–33 by Western Province U19. He made his first class debut for the Blue Bulls on 6 March 2015, starting their 2015 Vodacom Cup match against the Falcons in Kempton Park, helping them to a 37–13 victory.
He also started their next three matches in the competition, against the Leopards XV, Golden Lions and Pumas. He was named in a 37-man training squad for the South Africa national under-20 rugby union team and featured for them in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015.
He was also included in the squad that embarked on a two-match tour of Argentina.
He came on as a replacement in their 25–22 victory over Argentina and started their 39–28 victory a few days later. Upon the team"s return, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. In June 2015, he extended his contract at the Bulls until October 2017.
He appeared as a replacement in five of their remaining six matches during the regular season of the season, helping the Blue Bulls finish in second position to qualify for the play-offs.
He played off the bench in their semi-final match against Western Province, but could not prevent the side from Cape Town winning 23–18 to eliminate the Blue Bulls from the competition. In 2016, Van Zyl was included in the Bulls" squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season.