He may just not be durable enough for top flight rugby, or he just got unlucky with one very extreme injury that may be resurfacing. This is unfortunate as he looked to be a player that was capable of developing into test standard. He seemed very all-rounded as a player....
Du Plessis underwent an operation in the USA late last year in a desperate attempt to save his rugby career, so it is a bit disconcerting to hear that the injury that forced Du Plessis to miss the Sharks game is of a similar type to the one that saw him miss 16 months of rugby - only, as Stormers coach Robbie Fleck put it, it is now “the other hip” that is causing complications.
"Perhaps related to the 1st injury? It seems a bit bizarre to have the exact same injury as the first one- especially as it was a rare injury in the first instance- but now the other hip...
“Jean-Luc is still having trouble so we are not sure where we are going to end up with him, so it was good for us to use this game to build up a bit of depth at flyhalf,’ said Fleck.
Steph Dutoit was looking to be in the same boat when he was at the Sharks, but things have turned around for him since being at the Stormers. As did Jean Devilliers at the start of his career - especially when he developed a glass jaw at the end of his career.
