Carel Johan du Plessis (born 24 June 1960) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

coach and player.

Playing career

Du Plessis played for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

and the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, his skills earning him the nickname the ''Prince of Wings''."Springbok legend Du Plessis undergoes brain operation"
''sport24.co.za'', 6 February 2019. He is ranked among the best Springbok wings of all-time, although he was only capped 12 times, scoring 4 tries, with his international career curtailed by the sports boycott against

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa.

Test history

Coaching career

In late February 1997, du Plessis was appointed coach of the Springboks, succeeding Andre Markgraaff, despite a lack of coaching experience. He led the team to defeat in both the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

' 1997 tour and the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Tri-Nations, before being sacked and replaced by Nick Mallett, his last game as coach being a 61–22 win over Australia. He was subsequently an assistant coach for Western Province and the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

, with

Gert Smal Gert Petrus Smal (born 27 December 1961, Kimberley, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top ...

Personal

Du Plessis is the brother of Michael du Plessis and Willie du Plessis, both former Springboks, father of

Jean-Luc du Plessis Jean-Luc du Plessis (born 7 May 1994 in Cape Town) is a South African rugby union player for the in the United Rugby Championship and for in the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is fly-half. Career Youth He repr ...

, who plays for the Stormers, and uncle of

Daniël du Plessis Daniël Michael du Plessis (born 17 March 1995) is a South African rugby union player for the in Super Rugby. His regular position is centre. Career Youth Du Plessis' first provincial selection came in 2013, when he was selected to represe ...

, a former South Africa U20 player. He has undergone three major surgeries after a brain tumour was discovered in January 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Carel 1960 births Living people South Africa national rugby union team coaches South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Western Province (rugby union) players Sportspeople from Somerset East Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Alumni of Paarl Boys' High School

Playing career

Test history

Coaching career

Personal

See also

References