Morne du plessis age

The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver

Morné du Plessis (1949 - ) Awarded for:

Excellent achievement in rugby, putting South Africa on the world stage through being inducted into the rugby hall of fame and promoting the use of sport for social change throughout the world.

Profile of Morné du Plessis

Morné du Plessis was born in Vereeniging on 21 October 1949 and grew up in Klerksdrop. In 1966, he matriculated at Grey College in Bloemfontein and completed his national service at the Naval Gymnasium in Saldanha Bay.

Du Plessis’s family was deeply steeped in sport and his involvement in rugby resulted from this fact. His father was a Springbok rugbycaptain in 1949 and his mother was the captain of the Springbok hockey team in 1953.

He attended the University of Stellenbosch between 1968 and 1972, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree, majoring in Industrial Psychology.

With the love of rugby running through his veins, he started playing at an early age, making his debut as Springbok eighthman in 1971 in a three-test series away to Australia. The trip proved successful to the South Africans with the team winning the three tests 18-6, 14-6 and 19-11. Du Plessis was elected captain in 1975. He retired from rugby in 1980.

In 1995, he officially re-entered the international rugby arena as manager of the South African national rugby team, which won the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He retired as Springbok manager in August 1996.

Du Plessis serves on the World Sports Academy – a group of 42 world-renowned sportsmen and women who act as the Electoral College for the Laureus World Sports Awards and promote the use of sport for social change throughout the world.

He is the founder of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town and the co-founder of Bioenergetics of Exercise Research Unit of the University of Cape Town and the Medical Research Council.

In all, he played in 22 tests for South Africa, 18 of which were victories. Under his cap

Rugby player

Morné du PlessisOIS (Afrikaans:[mɔrˈneːduplɛˈsi]; born 21 October 1949) is a former South African rugby union player often described as one of the Springboks' most successful captains. During the five years from 1975 to 1980 that he served as captain, the Springboks won 13 of 15 matches, giving Du Plessis an 86.66% success rate as captain.

Du Plessis's father, Felix, was also the captain of a Springbok rugby team, and his mother, Pat, captained the South African women's hockey side. Felix and Morné are the only father-and-son duo so far to have both been Springbok rugby captains, and Morné is the only Springbok captain born to parents both of whom captained national sports sides. Morné du Plessis was appointed manager of the 1995 Springbok team which won the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Du Plessis co-founded with Tim Noakes both the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town, and the Bioenergetics of Exercise Research Unit of the University of Cape Town and the Medical Research Council (renamed UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine in 2000).

Early life and career

Du Plessis was born 21 October 1949 in Vereeniging, several sources incorrectly identify Krugersdorp as Du Plessis' town of birth, including the International Rugby Hall of Fame and ESPN Scrum. But in an interview Du Plessis pointed to Vereeniging as his place of birth, and this is confirmed in his profile on the Springboks' official site, and on the South African government's national orders. into a sporting family. His mother, Pat (née Smethurst) captained South Africa's women's national hockey side in 1954. A maternal uncle, Horace, was captain of the national soccer team that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1947.

His father, Felix, was born on 24 No

South African rugby union player

Rugby player

Felix du Plessis (24 November 1919 – 1 May 1978) was a South African rugby union footballer and captain of the South Africa (Springbok) team that in 1949 beat the All Blacks thrice in succession, a feat that was not repeated by a South African side until 2009. Du Plessis's son, Morné, also captained the Springboks, the only father-son duo to have done so.

Early life and career

Du Plessis was born on 24 November 1919 in Steynsburg, in the Eastern Cape. He was the nephew of Nic du Plessis, a Springbok who toured to New Zealand in 1921 and gained 5 caps over a three-year career.

As a 19-year-old Felix Du Plessis was selected for the first Northern Transvaal team ever, when that union was formed in 1938. His teammate and captain was Danie Craven. He enlisted voluntarily during World War II.

International career

Felix made his debut on 16 July 1949 for South Africa as a lock in the first test match at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town against the touring All Blacks, led by Fred Allen. He was the first ever Wanderers player to become Springbok captain. Supported by vice-captain Cecil Moss, Du Plessis' team – which included Springbok greats Tjol Lategan, Hannes Brewis, Okey Geffin, and Hennie Muller – swept the series 3 – 0. Six weeks after the last test, Morné was born.

Despite his three successive test victories as captain, Du Plessis was left out of the team that faced the All Blacks in the 4th test at Port Elizabeth. He was replaced by Basil Kenyon, possibly because the player-coach's Border team had emerged unbeaten from two encounters with the New Zealanders, with a 9–0 win and a 6–6 draw. Unlike Du Plessis, Kenyon would only receive this one cap.

International caps