| Full name | Hillegard Muller du Plessis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1999-06-25)25 June 1999 (age 25) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bethlehem | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb; 13 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Paarl Gimnasium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | JP du Plessis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Medal record | ||
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| Men'srugby sevens | ||
Representing South Africa | ||
| Commonwealth Games | ||
 | 2022 Birmingham | Team competition |
Hillegard Muller du Plessis (born 25 June 1999) is a South Africanrugby union player for theSharks in theUnited Rugby Championship and theCurrie Cup. He is a formerrugby sevens player for theSouth Africa national rugby sevens team. He represented them in more than 100 matches and won twoWorld Rugby Sevens Series titles, as well as aCommonwealth Games gold medal.[1][2]
Du Plessis was born inBethlehem in South Africa'sFree State province as the son of Charl and Anneline du Plessis.[citation needed] He initially attended primary school inReitz, where he represented local provincial union theGriffons at Under-12 level, before moving toPaarl and enrolling at thePaarl Gimnasium Primary School. In 2012, Du Plessis representedWestern Province at the Under-13Craven Week tournament held inBloemfontein,[3] appearing in four matches atinside centre and scoring a try in their opening match against thePumas.[4]
At high school level, Du Plessis attended and played rugby forPaarl Gimnasium. He was included in the Western Province squad for the 2015 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week, only to withdraw through injury. In the same year, he was selected in theSouth African Rugby Union's High Performance program.[5]
In 2016, he was named in Western Province's squad for the Under-18Craven Week tournament held inDurban.[6] He started all three matches, scoring two tries in their second match against theSharks,[7] and helping them to a 27–20 victory over theGolden Lions in the main match[8] to be crowned unofficial champions.[9] At the conclusion of the tournament, Du Plessis was included in theSouth Africa Schools squad for the Under-19 International Series,[10] helping the team to victories over Wales,[11]France — scoring two tries in a 42–3 win[12] — andEngland.[13]
Du Plessis captained Paarl Gimnasium's first team during 2017,[5] and was again included in the Craven Week side for the tournament inJohannesburg.[14] He started all three matches at the tournament, scoring tries in matches against thePumas[15] and theFree State Cheetahs.[16] He received a second call-up to the South Africa Schools squad for the 2017 edition of the Under-19 International Series,[17] but could not prevent the team suffering defeats to Wales,[18] France[19] and England, with Du Plessis scoring two tries in the final match in a 22–52 defeat.[20]
After finishing school, Du Plessis signed a contract to join theDurban-basedSharks team, and also linked up with the South African Sevens Academy inStellenbosch.[5] He was included the academy squad that competed at two events in the2018 Sudamérica Rugby Sevens,[21] helping them to win both thePunta Del Este Sevens inUruguay and theViña del Mar Sevens inChile.
Shortly after returning to South Africa, Du Plessis was called up by the senior squad to travel to the2018 Hamilton Sevens as their reserve player,[22] but apulled hamstring resulted in Du Plessis being a late withdrawal from the team.[23] This setback proved to be minor, as he was included in their next squad for the2018 USA Sevens,[24][25] where he duly made his debut. He also appeared at the events inCanada (where he scored his first try in the series),[26]Hong Kong (where he scored 7 tries for the team)[27] andSingapore,[28] in a season that saw South Africa go on to win the series by pippingFiji to the title.[29]
Du Plessis returned to the fifteen-man version of the sport when he was called up to theSouth Africa Under-20 squad for theWorld Rugby Under 20 Championship held in France.[30] He did not feature in their opening match of the tournament againstGeorgia, but was named in the starting lineup for their second match againstIreland. He scored a try in the 19th minute of the match to set his team on the way to a 30–17 victory.[31] However, he was replaced at half-time, and agluteal muscle injury ruled him out of the remainder of the championship.[32]
He returned to domestic action in South Africa for theSharks in the Under-19 Provincial Championship.[33]
In 2022, He was part of theSouth African team that won their secondCommonwealth Games gold medal inBirmingham.[34][35][36][37]