Felix du Plessis (24 November 1919 – 1 May 1978) was 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 ...

footballer and captain of the

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 ...

(Springbok) team that in 1949 beat the

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thrice in succession, a feat that was not repeated by a South African side until 2009. Du Plessis's son, Morné, also captained the Springboks, the only father-son duo to have done so.

Early life and career

Du Plessis was born on 24 November 1919 in Steynsburg, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. He was the nephew of Nick du Plessis, a Springbok who toured to New Zealand in 1921 and gained 5 caps over a three-year career. As a 19-year-old Felix Du Plessis was selected for the first

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team ever, when that union was formed in 1938. His teammate and captain was

Danie Craven Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...

. He enlisted voluntarily during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

International career

Felix made his debut on 16 July 1949 for South Africa as a

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in the first test match at

Newlands Stadium The Newlands Stadium is located in Cape Town, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all-seater venue. Various sports teams used the stadium as their home base, including: * Stormers in Super Rugby * Wester ...

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against the touring All Blacks, led by

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist topically-pointed radio program '' The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forw ...

. He was the first ever Wanderers player to become Springbok captain. Supported by vice-captain Cecil Moss, Du Plessis' team – which included Springbok greats Tjol Lategan,

Hannes Brewis Johannes Daniel "Hannes" Brewis (15 June 1920 – 9 September 2007) was a South African rugby union player. He was capped for South Africa ten times, and was selected to play for the Springboks on the 1951–52 South Africa rugby tour of Great ...

, Okey Geffin, and Hennie Muller – swept the series 3 – 0. Six weeks after the last test, Morné was born. Despite his three successive test victories as captain, Du Plessis was left out of the team that faced the All Blacks in the 4th test at

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. He was replaced by Basil Kenyon, possibly because the player-coach's

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team had emerged unbeaten from two encounters with the New Zealanders, with a 9–0 win and a 6–6 draw. Unlike Du Plessis, Kenyon would only receive this one cap.

International caps

Personal life

Du Plessis married Pat Smethurst, who in 1954 captained the South African women's

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team. Their son Morné is the only Springbok captain born to parents who both captained national sports sides. The Du Plessis couple supported the more liberal opposition United Party instead of the National Party, which had come to power in 1948 and would enforce

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 ...

for the next 42 years. Felix worked as a representative for

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, then relocated to

Vereeniging Vereeniging ( ; ) is a city located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was forme ...

to manage

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's sport and recreation department. He moved to Stilfontein, where he opened a liquor store, one of the first shops in town. Morné recalls his father as a gentle and retiring person, who only started watching his son play rugby once he was at Stellenbosch. Du Plessis died at Stilfontein in 1978 at the age of 58, having played only in the three tests against New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Felix 1919 births 1978 deaths People from Walter Sisulu Local Municipality Rugby union locks South Africa national rugby union team captains South Africa international rugby union players South African rugby union players South African military personnel of World War II Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Blue Bulls players

Early life and career

International career

International caps

Personal life

See also

References