Amy du Plessis: 'The game you love doesn’t always love you back'

Some of the most moving social media content at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 featured tearful Black Ferns bidding farewell to grief-stricken centre Amy du Plessis.

In the opening 54-8 win against Spain in York, she injured her shoulder after falling awkwardly in a tackle. She was due to return for the quarter-final agains South Africa, the country of her birth, but did not recover in time.

This weekend she has unfinished business in the historic first Test between the Black Ferns and Springbok Women at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

“The game you love doesn’t always love you back,” Du Plessis told RugbyPass.

“I was absolutely gutted to not play against South Africa. They brought such a unique approach to the game with 15-woman rolling mauls, surprise tactics and huge physicality.

“They’ve really grown their game over the past couple of years. We expect some surprises and heat in Johannesburg, but we have to focus on ourselves. We’re looking to play fast and build on recent performances

“I won’t lie, it’s going to be an emotional one. I haven’t been in South Africa since 2014. My grandfather is coming to the game. He’s only seen me play once.”

Du Plessis was born in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, the hometown of legendary Springboks hardman and 2007 Rugby World Cup winner Bakkies Botha [85 Tests, 64 wins].

The centre’s parents managed a BMW store but moved to New Zealand when Du Plessis was seven to seek a safer lifestyle on a dairy farm owned by her other grandfather.

She described her upbringing as quiet and idyllic but said she has always been aware of her surroundings, having lived in a gated community in South Africa. That peripheral vision has served her well on the rugby field.

She won a National Top Four title with Southland Girls’ High School in 2016. She played 15 games and scored 9 tries for Otago between 2018 and 2020.

Du Plessis has represented Canterbury 18 times for 16 wins and eight tries. She has played 27 of Matatu’s 28 games in Super Rugby Aupiki, including all 13 wins.

She made her Black Ferns debut against Canada, in a 28-0 win, in 2022. She made three appearances at Rugby World Cup 2022 and, since 2023, has played 21 of 28 Test matches.

In 2026, she has started all four Black Ferns wins, scoring tries in the 36-14 win against Canada and the 40-5 win against Australia. At the end of August, in the Black Ferns’ 66-19 thrashing of Australia at North Harbour Stadium in Albany, Du Plessis had the most linebreaks [3] and metres run [79].

“The performance against Australia was awesome,” Du Plessis said. “It was great to score so many points and come together only a week before the game and see things sticking like that.

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“I do think Australia have grown parts of their game like their ability to kick for territory and lineout drive, and they still found space for three tries. Obviously, they have a new coach and new players, so it will take time to build new combinations.

“Our debutants were awesome. Amarante Sititi coming on as lock slotted in like a glove. She’s an absolute freak. I guess that runs in the family. Her game understanding and physicality are immense.

“I’ve seen the X-factor of Elinor-Plum King at Matatu. She’s a real workhorse and has an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time where good things happen. Shyrah Tuliau-Tua’a has incredible pace and spatial awareness. She could be a star.”

The job of Du Plessis is to put the likes of Tuliau-Tua’a into space. She is often partnered alongside Sylvia Brunt, who has had 33 Tests, 13 tries and 25 wins since 2022. The powerhouse Brunt has a different approach to Grace Brooker, whom Du Plessis has played most of her rugby with at Canterbury and Matatu.

“Grace is an awesome game driver and leader,” Du Plessis said. “Sylvia is the best at getting over the gain line. They have their differences, but I have a good relationship with both, which helps me as a player and a person.”

The Black Ferns will need solid midfield symmetry to break down a South African side expected to bring plenty of physicality. In last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, won 46-17 in Exeter, it was 10-10 at half-time.

The Black Ferns had never faced a team employing 15-woman rolling mauls, a seven-to-one forward split on the bench, and a risk-averse, compact, brutal attack that rarely sent the ball beyond the second-five position.

The Black Ferns made 141 out of 157 first-half tackles and conceded eight penalties. When tighthead prop Babalwa Latsha muscled over from close range in the 20th minute, the tackle count against the Black Ferns stood at an astonishing 95-3.

Black Ferns tighthead Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu had already made 20 out of her 25 match tackles.

South Africa faded in the second half. The Black Ferns had 11 players make 10 or more tackles; even winger Portia Woodman-Wickliffe made nine. The Black Ferns found their rhythm through Woodman-Wickliffe, Jorja Miller, Ayesha Leti-I’iga, Braxton Sorensen-McGee, and Renee Holmes with two tries.

In 2026, South Africa shared a July series with the USA, winning the first Test in Johannesburg 34-21 and losing the second 26-19 in Pretoria. In August, they accounted for Fiji in Suva and Lautoka 55-12 and 29-22, requiring a debut hat-trick and last-minute try from Maria Tshiremba to prevail in the second encounter. She had scored 64 tries in 20 tournaments for the Springboks Sevens.

Since 2022, South Africa has achieved 27 of their 45 all-time international victories. They now boast a centrally contracted national squad and a first domestic professional team, the Bulls Daisies, based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. They compete in a reformed women’s top-flight competition. Some players to watch include tighthead prop Babalwa Latsha, No.8 Aseza Hele and first-five Libbie Janse van Rensburg.

In 2025, South Africa and the Black Ferns XV split a two-match series in Cape Town. In the first game, a Kelsey Teneti hat-trick was the difference for the Black Ferns XV in a 34-26 win. In the second game, South Africa prevailed in a landmark 41-24 victory.

“It’s pretty special to be playing at FNB Stadium,” Du Plessis said. “I always dreamed of playing there. It’s not often the Black Ferns and All Blacks play at the same ground on the same day. It’s going to be a great challenge, awesome to be a part of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.”

The Black Ferns and All Blacks played together at the same venue for the first time at Carisbrook in Dunedin in 1997. The Black Ferns beat Australia 40-0, and the All Blacks won 36-24.

In 1998, the Black Ferns won their Test match in Sydney against Australia 27-3, but the All Blacks lost 19-14, the Wallabies winning the Bledisoe Cup series 3-0. Annaleah Rush played centre for the Black Ferns. Her brother Xavier Rush played No.8 for the All Blacks.

More recent history hasn’t always been kind to the Black Ferns when they’ve played on the same day as the All Blacks. On November 21, 2009, the Black Ferns lost their eight-year, 24 Test win streak at Allianz Stadium in London when England beat them 10-3. At least the All Blacks won 19-6 after a try by half-back Jimmy Cowan and four penalties by Dan Carter.

In 2012 the Black Ferns were beaten 32-23 by England at Twickenham, and then the All Blacks were thrashed 38-21 in their first defeat in 14 Tests that season.

At the 2022 Rugby World Cup, there was furore as the Black Ferns’ 55-3 Rugby World Cup quarter-final win against Wales in Whangarei clashed with an All Blacks 38-31 win in Tokyo.

The Black Ferns did win their last Test on the same day as the All Backs, 37-12 against Australia in Wellington on July 12, 2025. The All Blacks beat France 43-17. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe celebrated her 34th birthday with a hat-trick as the Black Ferns regained the Laurie O’Reilly Cup.