Phillipus Jacobus Snyman 'JP' du Plessis (born 29 April 1991) is a South African professional

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 ...

player who plays centre position for NOLA Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR) in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Du Plessis previously played for the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Home field The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...

in the MLR. Du Plessis also played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

and

for

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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

sides the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

and the , as well as South African

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

sides and and French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side .

Early years

Du Plessis grew up playing rugby union in

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 ...

starting his career as school pupil at Reitz High School in Reitz and later moving to

Paul Roos Gymnasium Paul Roos Gymnasium is a public, dual medium (Afrikaans & English) high school for boys in the town of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, and opened on the 1st of March 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium. It is the 12th oldest school in the c ...

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. He was selected to represent at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week tournament in 2007 and represented them at the premier high school rugby union competition in South Africa, 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 to ...

, in 2009. After that event, he was also named in the 2009 South African Schools squad. He played off the bench in their 86–3 against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and scored South Africa's only try in their 13–45 defeat by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

three days later.

Rugby league

Du Plessis was then one of two South African youngsters that moved to Australia to join

side the

, the other being Brian Skosana. He never played for the first team, but did represent their Under-20 side in the 2010 Toyota Cup.

Rugby union

Melbourne Rebels

In 2010, Du Plessis reverted to rugby union, signing with the

side for their inaugural season in Super Rugby in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. He made a single Super Rugby appearance for the Rebels, coming on as a late replacement in their match against the .

Western Province / Stormers

Du Plessis returned to

in 2011 to sign for the

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

-based . He made seven appearances for the side during the 2011 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring five tries which included four in their 38–42 loss to the s in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. Du Plessis was included in the ' 2012 Super Rugby squad. He made two appearances for them off the bench, a 23–13 victory over the in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and a 17–3 victory over the in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

a week later. He also made seven appearances for Western Province in the 2012 Vodacom Cup and scored a try against the . Still eligible for play at Under-21 level, he played for the side during the

2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Division A There are seven p ...

and scored one try in their match against the . He was then called up to their

side and made nine appearances for them during the 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division. He scored tries in their matches against and the to help them finish in third spot on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. However, he didn't feature in the semi-final or the final (which Western Province won by beating the 25–18) instead reverting to the Under-21 side; he played in both their 19–18 semi-final victory over the and their 13–22 defeat by the in the final.

Montpellier

He didn't feature for the Stormers in the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

and opted to move to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to join

side prior to the 2013–14 Top 14 season. However, he failed to break into the first team at Montpellier due to suffering a knee injury and featured in just one match for them, coming on as a late replacement in a 25–18 victory over .

Free State Cheetahs

He returned from France after just one season to join the prior to the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

. He made five starts and five appearances off the bench for the

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

-based side, scoring a try in their match against the as the Free State Cheetahs finished in fifth spot to miss out on the play-offs. He wasn't named in the

squad for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

, instead playing in four matches for the side that played in the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition.

Eastern Province Kings

Du Plessis was named in the squad for the

2015 Currie Cup qualification The 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament was a competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which featured seven teams and was played between 12 June and 25 July 2015. The winner of the tournament would qualify for the 2015 Currie Cu ...

tournament, but didn't feature for them at all, instead joining

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

-based side prior to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Jp 1991 births Living people Afrikaner people Eastern Province Elephants players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Free State Cheetahs players Melbourne Rebels players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players People from Kroonstad Rugby union centres Rugby league centres San Diego Legion players South African expatriate rugby league players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Australia South African expatriate sportspeople in France South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States Southern Kings players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players New Orleans Gold players