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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

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 Provin ...

and the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), 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. Capped 12 times, he scored 4 tries for the Springboks, but his international career was curtailed by the sports boycott against

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

South Africa.

Test history

Coaching career

In late February 1997, du Plessis was appointed coach of the Springboks, succeeding

Andre Markgraaff Andries Thomas "Andre" Markgraaff (born 23 December 1956) is a retired South African rugby union lock. He matriculated at Diamantveld High School and was a controversial national coach, who resigned after he was taped using the racial K-word. ...

, 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, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

' 1997 tour and the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Tri-Nations, before being sacked and replaced by

Nick Mallett Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was the ...

, 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) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

, 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 Le ...

Personal

Du Plessis is the brother of

Michael du Plessis Michael Josias du Plessis (born 4 November 1958) is a former South African rugby union player. Playing career Du Plessis played for Western Province, Northern Transvaal, Transvaal, Eastern Province and the Springboks. He made his test debut a ...

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 Super Rugby and for in the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is fly-half. Career Youth He represented at youth level ...

, 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 repre ...

, 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 People from Somerset East Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Rugby union centres Rugby union wings

Playing career

Test history

Coaching career

Personal

See also

References