"Du Plessis is the most common surname of the 881 players that have represented the Springboks at Test level, with 14 of that name having played in the green and gold.
The Stormers' 22-year-old inside centre Daniel du Plessis could add to that list in years to come after a superb start to the 2017 season, playing in tandem with another callow youngster, EW Viljoen.
The pair have struck up a partnership that is both wonderfully skilful and athletic, but also technically and tactically sound with or without the ball.
Daniel is the son of former Springbok centre Michael and the nephew of Springboks Carel and Willie du Plessis, who played wing and centre respectively.
Because of the family he comes from it was almost inevitable that his path would involve high-level sport - and rugby in particular.
He has the genes to go far in the game but with the Stormers coaching set-up driving a culture of excellence, Du Plessis is more than cashing in on the advantage nature and nurture gave him.
He is proving a wall in defence with an impressive tackle success rate of 100% - 28 tackles.
Despite playing only 252 minutes of a possible 480, he is in the top 10 for line breaks as well, with four this season.
An All Black midfield of Stephen Donald and Anton Leinert-Brown last weekend didn't faze Du Plessis as he gave a superb performance to help the Stormers beat the Chiefs 34-26.
"For both of us [he and Viljoen] it was our first time playing against a New Zealand team," Du Plessis said.
"It was a bit of a change for us. They played a really high-tempo game, which is what we expected.
"They tested us quite a lot. To have pulled it through and come out with the win was really good for our confidence.
"We'll take a lot of learning out of that, especially me and EW and the young guys.
"We're playing a really good brand of rugby this year and I think the challenge for us against the Chiefs was to keep playing that brand of rugby and not go back into our shells.
"That's what we did really well at the weekend and hopefully we can take it on to the next games."
The playing in backlines require brains and skill. The Springboks through the years and especially in the last decade had too much brawn and too little brain
The two outstanding players in backline positions have been De Villier and Habana - the rest though at times playing well - was not consistent and in the main pedestrian.
The brothers Willie, Michael and Carel du Plessis was top class. Michael was a bit of a dirty player - Carel a real dynamo wing - scoring some of the best ries I can remember.
Aside from Dan playing at center for the Stormers now - there is also his cousin Jean-Luc playing at flyhalf with the same characteristics. He is at preset injured and will have a battle to get back as flyhalf with Robert Du Preez doing very well in that position.
However, the Stormers center pairing of Du Plessis and Viljoen is rapidly making a name for themselves. They are class acts and is very effective. I think together with De Allende the three are the ideal center combination for the Stormers.
The two youngsters made massive progress thus far this year playing for the Stormers. I have always admired Viljoen as a potential top class player from school days. He played at full back previously and was moved by the Stormers to center. The backline of the Stormers have shown that they can score tries and that represents a huge difference to the backline that used to play in the last 5 previous years. In this the centers play a major role.
For instance - I have not checked but from memory Viljoen scored more tries and was credited with more try assists then was the case with De Jongh did in the period since 2012. Viljoen is also a top off-loader of balls and very effective in that component of the game.
