Du Plessis shines in WP Currie Cup win
Dan du Plessis made another strong bid for inclusion in the Stormers team by scoring a brace for Western Province in their 36-31 Currie Cup victory over the Free State XV in Bloemfontein.
|||Dan du Plessis made another strong bid for inclusion in the Stormers team by scoring a brace for Western Province in their 36-31 Currie Cup victory over the Free State XV in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Province survived a late fightback from the home team, with fullback Grant Hermanus slotting a penalty and flank Luke Stringer scoring WP’s fifth try of the afternoon to secure the win at the Central University of Technology’s stadium.
It was the intervention of Du Plessis, who scored two tries after halftime, which turned the game on its head as the Free State outfit led 10-7 at the break. Coupled with a five-pointer from scrumhalf Justin Phillips, the three touchdowns took WP into a 26-10 advantage with around 30 minutes to go.
Even though former WP and Stormers hooker Tiaan Liebenberg – who is making a comeback to rugby after a number of injuries – and right wing Mosolwa Mafuma scored in the last five minutes, it was a little too late to deny the Cape side victory.
But Du Plessis – the son of former Springbok midfielder Michael and nephew of Carel – is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his cousin Jean-Luc into the Stormers set-up.
Coach Robbie Fleck said this week that Dan du Preez was close to making the match-23 for Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Reds at Newlands (3pm kickoff) following the withdrawal of captain Juan de Jongh due to concussion, with Damian de Allende taking over the No 12 jersey.
But Fleck decided to rather pick another specialist flyhalf in Brandon Thomson on the Stormers bench. “We definitely toyed with the idea of bringing in Dan du Plessis as another centre cover, which would’ve created the continuity of having Cheslin as that flyhalf cover,” the coach said.
“But Thommo has been part of the system this year and played in the warm-up games, while he played well for Province against Bulls. He is a specialist flyhalf and brings another specialist goal-kicker, so it brings balance to the bench.”
Du Plessis, though, was outstanding in WP’s opening Currie Cup win over the Blue Bulls at Newlands a fortnight ago, where he also scored a try. The 21-year-old has a lot of time on the ball and has a renowned passing game, and is equally physical on attack and defence.
With Huw Jones being converted into a fullback in recent weeks and acting as cover to Cheslin Kolbe following the season-ending knee injury to Dillyn Leyds, Du Plessis may be the next centre in line.
POINTS SCORERS
Free State XV – Tries: Joseph Dweba, Mosolwa Mafuma (2), JP Smith, Tiaan Liebenberg. Conversions: Sias Ebersohn (3).
Western Province – Tries: Jurie van Vuuren, Dan du Plessis (2), Justin Phillips, Luke Stringer. Conversions: Scott van Breda (4). Penalty: Grant Hermanus.
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
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