Daniël Michael du Plessis (born 17 March 1995) is a South African

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 ...

player for the in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. His regular position is centre.

Career

Youth

Du Plessis' first provincial selection came in 2013, when he was selected to represent Western Province at the Under-18

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The ...

tournament held in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provin ...

. He started in their first match against the Pumas and ran in four tries in a 40–24 victory. He also played against the Blue Bulls and in the unofficial final against the Golden Lions, where he scored another try to secure victory for Western Province. At the conclusion of the tournament, he was also named in a South African Schools squad and he represented them in matches against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Du Plessis played for the side in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship, scoring two tries in five matches to help his team all the way to the final, where they beat the s 33–26. In 2015, Du Plessis was named in the Western Province squad for the

2015 Vodacom Cup The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Afr ...

, but failed to make any appearances. Instead he linked up with the South Africa Under-20 squad. He was initially named in a 37-man training squad and also started for them in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team, scoring a try in a 31–24 victory in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team at the conclusion of the 2015 Varsity Cup competition. He was then named in their squad to tour Argentina for a two-match series as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He started both their 25–22 victory over

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the first match, and their 39–28 win in the second match four days later. Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

. He started all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; a 33–5 win against hosts

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, a 40–8 win against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and a 46–13 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He helped 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. Du Plessis also started their semi-final match against

and scored a try in the final minutes of the match, which wasn't enough to prevent them losing the match 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession. He started their third-place play-off match against

, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to win the bronze medal.

Personal

Du Plessis is the son of former

Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...

player Michael du Plessis and the nephew of former Springbok players Carel du Plessis and Willie du Plessis. Du Plessis is the cousin 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 is also a professional rugby player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Dan South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Gqeberha Rugby union centres Western Province (rugby union) players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Stormers players Alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium 21st-century South African sportsmen