Du Plessis Overcomes Injury And Is Itching To Get Back To His Best
DHL Stormers centre Dan Du Plessis overcame a knee injury that has kept him out for the best part of the season to deliver a strong eighty minutes of rugby against the Dragons in the Cape side’s 29-21 victory at DHL Stadium this past Sunday.
With rugby being the intense, physical spectacle that it is, Du Plessis knows that with time, his body will once again become accustomed to the rigours of its demands and backs himself to get back up to speed.
“I feel like I’m still recovering. The body will be used to it after a couple of games,” said Du Plessis.
“After being out for so long, the first two or three games are always tough on the body. I was a bit rusty against the Dragons. I need time to get back into it, but that is normal, and it will come with time.”
There was a moment in the encounter against the Dragons that Du Plessis broke through the gain line and dashed toward the try line as he waded off defenders, but was stopped just short for what would have been a wonderful try.
The wily centre was adamant that with greater match sharpness, the next time he is presented with the opportunity, the end result will be different.
“Maybe a couple of years back – if I was 21 or 22 years old, I would have gotten there,” said a smiling, cheerful Du Plessis.
“Getting the speed back will also come with time. As soon as I get used to cutting and swerving again, I’ll be back to my usual sharpness.”
A theme of the Stormers recently has been their inability to convert pressure into tries when entering the red zone. Despite their relatively meager conversion rate, there was still a sense of optimism from the centre.
“Someone said that at least we’re making the opportunities. If we weren’t making the opportunities, it would be a different story,” he said. “I know we made a couple and didn’t finish them, but rather than not creating any opportunities.”
“The talk from the coaches all week is that we need to be more clinical,” added Du Plessis.
With the Stormers shifting their gaze and focus to their game against Edinburgh – who sit in thirteenth place on 23 points – questions on the expectation and standard of the opposition were par for the course.
In direct opposition to Du Plessis will be Scottish international James Lang, while a few other familiar faces in the Edinburgh squad will also clash with their South African counterparts.
“James Lang is one of their top ball carriers. He’s a really good player, I’ve faced him before, and I am looking forward to a big clash with him,” said Du Plessis glowingly.
“I have come up in the ranks, being the same age as Duhan (Van Der Merwe). I played with him at SA schools – of course, he is a very good player, a strong ball carrier and a strong runner,” explained Du Plessis.
“Then in the front row, you have Pierre (Schoeman) and Boan (Venter), so the clash at scrum time will be a really big one as well. It will be interesting to see that battle.”
As he looks back on his recovery from yet another injury setback, Du Plessis hopes matters on the injury front subside as he is confident of getting back to his absolute best.
“After a couple of injuries, you become mentally strong, and it prepares you for when another one comes. I feel that every time I have returned, I’ve gotten back to my best, so I am sure I will get there again.”
