 Having been a talented player at schoolboy level, Terbrugge suffered a back injury at the age of eighteen which easily could have called an end to his career.He had an operation in 1998-99 on his knee however, which brought him a new lease of life, making him more agile.He had to wait until 2000 for his One Day International debut, but had a very good debut, claiming 4 wickets for just 20 runs in a South African victory over Pakistan.