VIDEO: Stormers star unpacks his Bok aspirations
SPOTLIGHT: Few rugby names are as familiar as the Du Plessis name, but Dan du Plessis, the Stormers’ centre, just gets on with doing his thing.
And doing his thing has obviously reaped some rewards this season, as his name has been mentioned when it comes to the Springbok set-up.
The 28-year-old son of former Springbok midfield wizard Michael, nephew of the Prince of Wings, Carel, and cousin to Jean-Luc says he doesn’t want to put the pressure of the family name on his shoulders.
“I don’t feel like it is pressure. I would say it is more of an honour to represent the family name,” he said in the build-up to the Stormers United Rugby Championship quarterfinal face-off with Irish province Connacht in Cape Town on Saturday.
“Obviously, it is a rich history in the Du Plessis family, and I have taken from my dad and family and tried to put that on the field,” he said.
“I think since I started playing rugby, that’s always been the goal to get a Green and Gold jersey.
“I hope for most of the players that are playing that is their goal.
“But I mean, I can only do what I can do, I don’t pick the squad. I can only do what I do on a weekend and prove my worth.
“So for me, my focus is on our team and contributing to our team what comes with that is not up to me.”
(Article continues below the Dan du Plessis interview …)
The Stormers midfielder is finally enjoying an injury-free season which has given him the freedom and opportunity to develop into a solid and polished centre. His combination with Ruhan Nel has been a revelation as they complement each other on the field with the way they interlink and seem to instinctively know what the other will do.
“I get a lot of confidence from Ruhan and hopefully he gets a lot from me. Just his personality on the field, he gives the other guys confidence in the backline, especially defensively. The way he goes to read and the way he communicates on defence. It helps me a lot,” Du Plessis explained.
This time last year Du Plessis was watching the season unfold from the sidelines as he was struggling to get back to full fitness after being injured.
“It was tough last season to miss out on the play-offs and watch from the sidelines.
“Hopefully, we can repeat what we did last season.”
“It has been good to get consistent game time.
“If you’re not getting rotated that much and not getting injured – being continuously on the field helps a lot.
“Just getting into the rhythm and putting up decent performances,” Du Plessis said.
