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

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

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

. 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 to ...

tournament held in

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

. 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 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 ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Du Plessis played for the side in the

2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2014 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Grou ...

, 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 Africa ...

, 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 Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

for a two-match series as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He started both their 25–22 victory over

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 ( 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 ...

, a 40–8 win against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and a 46–13 win over Australia. 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 (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

player Michael du Plessis and the nephew of former Springbok players

Carel du Plessis Carel Johan du Plessis (born 24 June 1960) is a former South African rugby union coach and player. Playing career Du Plessis played for Western Province and the Springboks, his skills earning him the nickname the ''Prince of Wings''.

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 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 is also a professional rugby player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Dan South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth Rugby union centres Western Province (rugby union) players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players Stormers players