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 schoolrugby 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 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.
Under-20
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.South Africa U/20"> 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. He started all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; a 33–5 win against hosts Italy, a 40–8 win against Samoa and a 46–13 win over Australia to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Van Zyl started their semi-final match against England, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession and also started their third-place play-off match against France, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.
Senior level
He made his first class debut for the on 6 March 2015, starting their 2015 Vodacom Cup match against the in Kempton Park, helping them to a 37–13 victory. He also started their next three matches in the competition, against the, and. In June 2015, he extended his contract at the Bulls until October 2017. He was included in the squad for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and named in the matchday squad for all eleven of their matches in the competition. He made his Currie Cup debut by playing off the bench in their 57–19 victory against the in Bloemfontein in their opening match of the season. After appearing as a replacement in their next two matches against and, he made his first Currie Cup start in their Round Four match against the Free State Cheetahs in Pretoria. 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 ' squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
