Amy du Plessis

BIOGRAPHY

Black Fern #219

Amy du Plessis is a South African born versatile outside back, especially noted for her defensive prowess, who cracked the Black Ferns in 2020.

She was born in Newcastle in KwaZulu Natal, the hometown of legendary Springboks hardman Bakkies Botha. Her parents were the manager of a BMW store but shifted to New Zealand when Amy was seven, in pursuit of a safer lifestyle residing on a dairy farm owned by Amy’s grandfather.

Du Plessis was an outstanding sportswoman at Southland Girls’ High School. A centre and wing attack in netball, she was in the Senior A team and selected for various South Island representative sides. In touch she played middle or link and was picked for the New Zealand Under 15’s. However, it was in rugby where she made the biggest impression. Southland GHS’s First XV attended the National Top Four every year du Plessis was in the team from 2013 to 2017, with 2016 resulting in national glory:

“That was massive. Every year we’d been pumped being these little girls from the deep south. The year we won we had more belief in ourselves and were able to draw on our past experiences.

“In the final we played St Mary’s from Wellington. They were huge so we had to be smarter and that combined with our superior fitness got the job done.”

Future Black Fern Alena Saili scored a hat-trick in the game but Southland coach Nathan Muir* emphasised du Plessis’ importance:

“Alena went off in the final and St Mary’s came home with a wet sail. If Amy had gone off to things might have got even more interesting. They were the perfect combination really. Alena had great footwork and guile while Amy was a hard running, hard hitting second-five. She really carried a load on defense and has become a quality player.”

Otago would see that quality for the next three seasons, with du Plessis making 15 appearances for the Spirit and scoring 10 tries. This helped the Spirit win promotion from the championship to the Premiership in 2019.

In 2020 she was picked for the Probables in the Black Ferns trial against the Possibles in November in Albany. An early injury to veteran centre Carla Hohepa proved to be fortuitous.

“Oh my gosh, here's an opportunity I thought, when I got on with about an hour left. We lost the game 28-19 but it was one of the best I’ve played. Still it was a massive surprise to be picked in the Black Ferns.

“I played the first game against the New Zealand Barbarians from the bench but the second one I started. It was a really tight game. I definitely felt the pressure of not being underdogs. I was beside Chelsea Alley though, who is a great leader and cool under pressure. The likes of Kendra Cocksedge and Eloise Blackwell were good cool heads as well.”

She switched to Canterbury in 2021 working for Placemakers while training 15 hours a week. A try saving tackle she made against Wellington on prolific Black Ferns winger Ayesha Leti-I'iga went viral helping Canterbury win a tight game 23-22 in the midst of a 27-game win streak which ended at the hands of Waikato (20-22) in the final.

*Southland Girls’ High School were South Island Secondary Schools champions every year from 2012-2018, attending the first seven National Top Four tournaments in that period and winning in 2016. They haven’t lost in the Southland competition since 2011, taking the top spot from South Otago High School who won the first three tournaments from 2008 to 2010. The First XV was coached in that period by PE teacher Nathan Muir who described himself as a “below average” player who coached and refereed at Southland Boys’ before joining the staff at Southland Girls’ in 2007. He believes local competition, with roughly 10 Under 18 sides, was stronger in its early years but acknowledges the development of an Under-15 grade has been beneficial to the competition, as well as the emergence of Canterbury schools. Muir says hard work, self-confidence, and exposure is key for the success of the schools’ rugby. The Top Four competition being on television has allowed girls to be seen who otherwise wouldn’t by national selectors.

Profile by Adam Julian