Amy du Plessis: from KwaZulu-Natal to the Black Ferns midfield, by way of the deep south

Amy du Plessis was born in the same South African town as Springbok lock Bakkies Botha and grew up at the bottom of New Zealand. In between came a move across the Indian Ocean at the age of seven, a school First XV from Invercargill that took on the country and won, a viral tackle, a World Cup winner's medal and, by the end of 2026, 32 Tests in the Black Ferns midfield. This is the story of how a girl from the deep south became one of the Black Ferns' regular centres, and of the shoulder injury that ended her 2025 World Cup after one match.

KwaZulu-Natal to Southland

Amy du Plessis was born on 7 July 1999 in Newcastle, in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, the hometown of Bakkies Botha, as the NZ Rugby Museum profile notes. She spent her first years in Johannesburg. When she was seven, the family moved to New Zealand, following her grandfather to Southland, and she grew up there.

Southland Girls' High School

At Southland Girls' High School in Invercargill, which she attended from 2013 to 2017, she played almost everything. In netball she was a centre or wing attack in the Senior A team and was picked for South Island representative sides. In touch she played in the middle or at link and made the New Zealand under-15 team.

Rugby was where she made her name. Southland Girls' were South Island secondary schools champions every year from 2012 to 2018 and went to the first seven National Top Four tournaments. Du Plessis was in the First XV at every one of them from 2013 to 2017, and in 2016 the school won the national title, beating St Mary's College of Wellington in the final. Future Black Fern Alena Saili scored a hat-trick that day.

"Every year we'd been pumped being these little girls from the deep south," du Plessis told the museum. The year they won, she said, they had more belief and drew on what they had learned in the years before. Coach Nathan Muir, a PE teacher at the school, remembered a midfield pairing that worked because the two players were so different: Saili had footwork and guile, and du Plessis was "a hard running, hard hitting second-five" who carried a heavy defensive load.

Otago

Southland had no team in the Farah Palmer Cup, so du Plessis went north to play for Otago. She made her debut for the Spirit in 2018, scored five tries in six games in 2019, and was part of the Otago side that won the Championship that year, beating Hawke's Bay 24-20 in the final to earn promotion to the Premiership. In three seasons she played 15 games and scored 45 points for the province.

In February 2019 she toured Japan with the Black Ferns Sevens Development team, one of two former Southland Girls' pupils in the squad, for five matches against Japan's men's and women's sides.

The breakthrough came in November 2020. Named on the bench for the Probables in the Black Ferns trial at North Harbour Stadium, she came on early when veteran centre Carla Hohepa was injured and played about an hour. The Probables lost 28-19, but she called it "one of the best I've played," and coach Glenn Moore singled out her work rate. A week later she was a Black Fern. She came off the bench against the New Zealand Barbarians at Trusts Arena in Waitākere on 14 November 2020, then started the second match in Nelson, beside Chelsea Alley in midfield. Both games were won, and the Black Ferns gave her the number 219.

Canterbury

In 2021 she moved to Christchurch and to Canterbury, working at PlaceMakers while training around 15 hours a week. A try-saving tackle she made on Ayesha Leti-I'iga in a 23-22 win over Wellington spread widely online. Canterbury won 27 games in a row before losing the 2021 final 22-20 to Waikato.

The following year they made amends. On 10 September 2022, in Kendra Cocksedge's 100th and final game for Canterbury, they beat Auckland 41-14 in Christchurch to win the Farah Palmer Cup, and du Plessis scored their last try with 19 minutes left. It was Canterbury's fifth title in six seasons. In three seasons with the province she played 18 games and scored 40 points.

Matatū

Du Plessis was named in Matatū's squad for the first Super Rugby Aupiki season in 2022. In 2023 she started at centre in the first Aupiki final, against Chiefs Manawa in Hamilton, and Matatū won it 33-31, handing Manawa their first defeat in the competition and claiming the title. Head coach Blair Baxter, re-signing her for that season, called her "a highly competitive athlete who works extremely hard," and pointed to "her defensive reads, her ability to beat a defender."

Matatū reached the final again in 2025 and lost 26-19 to the Blues at Eden Park, with du Plessis scoring one of their three tries. She was named Matatū's Aoraki Player of the Year and was a finalist for Super Rugby Aupiki Player of the Year at the New Zealand Rugby Awards, which Portia Woodman-Wickliffe won. In 2026 she scored in the opening-round 52-26 win over Chiefs Manawa in front of a record crowd at One NZ Stadium and started at centre in the final there on 25 July, which the Blues won 28-21 in front of 10,067.

Black Fern

Her first Test came on 12 June 2022, at centre against Canada in Waitākere, a 28-0 win in the Pacific Four Series. A week later she started again as the USA were beaten 50-6 in Whangārei. Her first Test try came in the 52-5 O'Reilly Cup win over Australia in Christchurch that August, and she scored again in a 95-12 win over Japan at Eden Park in September.

At the World Cup at home she started the opener against Australia at second five-eighth, came off the bench against Wales and started at centre in the 57-0 win over Scotland in Whangārei. She was not in the match-day 23 for the knockout rounds, but she was part of the squad that won the title, beating England 34-31 in the final at Eden Park.

In 2023 she played all seven Tests. In Ottawa on 8 July she scored twice in a 52-21 win over Canada in front of a record crowd and was named player of the match. She scored again against the USA in Ottawa and against Wales in a 70-7 win in Dunedin, and at the end of the year World Rugby named her in its Women's 15s Dream Team of the Year, one of six Black Ferns selected. Kennedy Tukuafu, then co-captain, singled her out among the side's younger players in 2024: "Amy du Plessis, whose confidence and game are just growing," she told Newsroom.

The shoulder

The 2025 World Cup in England started well for the Black Ferns and badly for du Plessis. She started at centre in the opening pool match against Spain in York, a 54-8 win, but hurt her shoulder. She sat out the rest of the pool stage and was named on the bench for the quarter-final against South Africa, but on the eve of the match she was ruled out of the tournament, with Katelyn Vahaakolo taking her place in the 23. Mererangi Paul was flown in to replace her. "She can be extremely proud of the contribution she's made to our campaign," said Allan Bunting, the Black Ferns' director of performance. The Black Ferns finished third.

A big year

She came back for Whitney Hansen's first season as head coach and in June 2026 re-signed with New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2029. "I'm absolutely loving my rugby," she said, naming the first British and Irish Lions women's tour in 2027 and the 2029 World Cup in Australia as the reasons for a long deal. Hansen said she "reads the game exceptionally well" and was "someone we can rely on in big moments."

She started ten of the Black Ferns' record 11 Tests that year, every one of them at centre, and scored six tries, the most she has managed in a season. She scored against Canada in Kansas City and Australia on the Sunshine Coast as the Pacific Four title was retained, then against Scotland in Edinburgh and England at Twickenham, where the Black Ferns led at half-time and lost 19-26 to a late interception. Back home, she scored twice in the 81-12 win over France in Hamilton, equalling her best haul in a Test. Delayed concussion kept her out of the 150th Test in Whangārei a week later, but she returned for the 36-7 win in Christchurch that closed the season.

Style and standing

The words that come up most from her coaches are about defence and reading the game. Muir saw it at school, Baxter at Matatū, and Hansen with the Black Ferns, who also described her as someone who "brings a clarity and confidence to the group" and has grown into a leader. At club and provincial level she has moved between centre, wing and fullback, but in the black jersey she has worn 13 in 29 of her 32 Tests.

Her record by the end of 2026: 32 Tests, 13 tries and 65 points, with 25 wins, a draw and six losses in the matches she has played. Add a place in World Rugby's 2023 Dream Team, a national schools title, a Farah Palmer Cup, an Aupiki title and a World Cup winner's medal.

What is next

Du Plessis is contracted to New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2029. The Black Ferns meet the Wallaroos at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Anzac Day 2027 and then host the British and Irish Lions Women in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in September 2027. The World Cup in Australia, the second she has set her sights on, follows in 2029.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from New Zealand Rugby's records (stats.allblacks.com), which also list two matches against the New Zealand Barbarians in 2020 and a match against a New Zealand Women XV in 2026 as non-Tests. Provincial and Matatū figures to the end of 2025 are from rugbyhistory.co.nz.