Jan Nathaniel du Plessis (born 16 November 1982 in

Bethlehem, Free State Bethlehem is a town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs river (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 road. It is the fastest growin ...

) is a South African

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 as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for in the 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 ...

and the Lions in Super Rugby. He played for the in the Currie Cup and 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

until 2007, when he joined

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

-based side the , where he played until 2015. He won 70 caps for

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 ...

between 2007 and 2015.

Personal and early life

Du Plessis showed promise as a rugby player early, being named as captain of the Eastern Free State age-group team at

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 tou ...

in 1995. While he continued to advance in rugby, playing for Free State representative teams at under-18 and under-19 level, he never represented South Africa at junior level. He studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

at the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in ...

and worked as a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

, making him one of the few players in the professional era of rugby union to have another career outside of the sport.

Rugby career

He eventually made the senior Free State Cheetahs side in 2003, and continued playing for the Cheetahs through the

2007 Currie Cup The 2007 ABSA Currie Cup season was contested from June through to October. The Currie Cup is an annual domestic competition for provincial rugby union teams in South Africa. The competition was won by the Free State Cheetahs The Free State ...

. Du Plessis was also named to a South African squad that faced a

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

at Ellis Park in 2006. Du Plessis made his Super 14 debut in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

for the Cheetahs. His

2007 Super 14 The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. The ...

campaign was hampered by an ankle injury. After recovering, he was selected for the Springboks squad for the first time during the 2007 Tri Nations, making his debut in the starting XV on 7 July against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during the Boks' home leg. The match was significant for him in another way, as his younger brother Bismarck made his Boks debut as a substitute in the same match while he was still on the field. This made the Du Plessis brothers the 23rd set of brothers to earn Springboks

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

. Neither Jannie nor Bismarck was named to the Springboks' original

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, but both eventually joined the squad. After Bismarck had already been called up to replace

Pierre Spies Pierre Johan Spies (born 8 June 1985 in Pretoria) is a retired South African rugby union player. He usually played as a Number 8, but could also play as a flanker and at times was deployed on the wing. Between 2005 and 2015, he spent the major ...

, Jannie was called up to replace

BJ Botha Brendon James Botha, better known as BJ Botha (born 4 January 1980) is a South African former rugby union player. He played as a prop. Professional career Sharks Botha played in the Currie Cup and Super 14 the Sharks. He played in all 13 Sup ...

after Botha blew out a knee against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the Boks' final pool match. He received the call notifying him of his selection from Springboks selection panel member Peter Jooste early in the morning of 1 October, shortly after finishing an all-night shift at a

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 ...

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

on the evening of 30 September, during which he performed a

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

. When interviewed after his selection, he said that his first sleep since 29 September was "an hour or so on the plane from Bloemfontein to

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 ...

", where he travelled to do his required paperwork before joining the Boks in France. On 7 October, he was starting for the Boks in their

quarterfinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, after

CJ van der Linde Christoffel Johannes van der Linde (born 27 August 1980) is a South African former professional rugby union player and currently the scrum coach at French Top 14 side . He played first class rugby between 2002 and 2015 in South Africa, Ireland, ...

was ruled out with a knee injury. A week after the Boks' victory over

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 ...

in the

Rugby World Cup final The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition established in 1987. It is contested by the List of rugby union playing countries, men's national teams of the member unions of the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and takes plac ...

, Du Plessis was in the squad for another final – the

final, in which the Cheetahs defeated the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

20–18. Because of his late call-up to the World Cup squad, he was the only member of the World Cup winners to play in enough Currie Cup matches to qualify for the final (at least four are required). Du Plessis joined three members of the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

winners as the only players to earn World Cup and Currie Cup winners' medals in the same year. Du Plessis had to use his medical skills unexpectedly in 2009. In the early morning hours of 29 March,

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

Shawn Mackay was hit by a car outside a

nightclub, suffering a paralysing injury. Du Plessis was at the scene because he was helping Brumbies players get back to their hotel after their match with the Sharks; he helped Mackay breathe and contacted emergency services, who stabilised him and rushed him to a hospital. However, Mackay died from complications of his injuries several days later.

Notes

References

External links

*
Jannie du Plessis at Genslin Springbok stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Jannie 1982 births Living people People from Bethlehem, Free State Afrikaner people South African expatriates in France Expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African physicians South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Rugby union props Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Golden Lions players Rugby union players from the Free State (province)