Box-office SMASH
Du Plessis swapping silver screen to star for Warriors
He stands at 6ft 1ins and weighs in at 19 stone. His blond locks and mildly Russian demeanour give him a distinctive look both on and off the pitch. Now the man who once played a gangster named ‘Borislav’ will head into battle for Glasgow Warriors against his former club Saracens.
And, make no mistake, Dave Rennie’s latest recruit Petrus du Plessis is a warrior in every sense of the word.
Breaking into professional rugby later than most, the South African made his mark in one of the greatest Premiership sides in a generation during a sevenyear spell. Two european Cups and three english Premiership titles to his name, the 37-year-old is no lightweight.
While Warriors will be more concerned with what he can bring to the front-row battle, his talents extend beyond the realms of the rugby pitch.
Indeed, in the midst of his rugby success, Du Plessis made a rather surprising foray on to the big screen alongside some of Hollywood’s elite, including Billy Bob Thornton and Johnny Depp in the movie London
Fields. While insisting it was ‘just a hobby’, there’s little doubt he made an impression...
‘The first time I ever really thought about the possibility of acting was when I took my son to an audition for a role in a movie,’ said Du Plessis earlier this year. ‘The director was a big shot from Hollywood but, strangely, wasn’t very experienced with working with kids. So he asked me to help him out with my son’s audition.
‘I happily agreed and, afterwards, he wanted me to leave my number so he could get in touch about future opportunities. Literally three weeks later, he offered me a small part in the film.
‘Afterwards, I spoke to my son’s agent who suggested I start taking acting classes to help me boost my confidence. I really enjoyed the experience and, off the back of that, I got a role in another movie, where I played a Russian gangster.’
It was his role as a Russian hard man named Borislav that captured his team-mates’ imaginations at least.
He was equipped with an AK-47 and took the liberty of naming his own character for a role in Gatwick Gangsters. Naturally, it did not go unnoticed and Du Plessis’ new alter ego gained some jubilant recognition at Allianz Park.
‘There were four Russian gangsters, so we all had to come up with a name to go on the credits. Dimitri and Vladimir were taken, so I told them I was Borislav,’ recalled Du Plessis. ‘Saracens got wind of it. I had to stand up and do a Russian accent and talk about the film, so the role evolved.
‘A week later, it was my turn to run the social meeting, so I rocked up in my red underpants, with my black moustache and did the whole meeting in character as Borislav. That led to more and more things, a Twitter account, videos, and, from there, Borislav was truly born.’
Warriors could now do with some of his box-office appeal as they go up against the team where Du Plessis made his name in their Heineken Cup opener at Scotstoun on Sunday.
‘I enjoyed my time at Saracens,’ he said yesterday. ‘I was very fortunate to be there at a time when we won the cup twice. The pressures and the quality of rugby to win the cup? I have enough experience for that.
‘What better game to go into for the Warriors than my old club. It is going to be a fantastic outing on Sunday.
‘I would imagine Saracens are going to be very physical. They play a high-intensity game with a fantastic kicking game. We know Saracens will stretch you and test you in every phase of the game, whether it is scrums, line-out, mauls, kicking game, defence, attack.
‘There is a good saying: You know exactly what they are going to do and you know exactly how to stop it, but you have to do it by being more physical, more urgent than them and do things better than them on the day.’
The tighthead is a muchneeded addition after Warriors lost Scotland international Zander Fagerson to injury earlier this season. He brings with him not only a wealth of experience but a real X-factor.
After a call from Rennie on Thursday, the South African went through the necessary procedures and arrived in Glasgow on Monday night.
Following a relegation season with London Irish, Du Plessis now has the opportunity to front up against his previous comrades, and Warriors will glean every piece of insider knowledge he has to offer.
‘There’s no real recipe for who can end on top when it comes to the european Cup. However, I would say that culture plays a massive role. The culture that Glasgow have at the minute, the boys are tight,’ said Du Plessis.
‘They get on really well. They look after each other on and off the pitch, and that’s a good starting point.
‘The two teams, for me, are very similar and want the same outcomes. I can imagine on Sunday it will come down to physicality and work rate.’
The veteran is only too aware of Saracens’ might, having only last Monday turned out for their A side under coach Kelly Brown, with whom Du Plessis discussed the potential move after the call from Rennie.
‘Funnily enough, there was (a chance) to go to other clubs on loan, because there’s a massive tighthead crisis in the Premiership as well and I got game time by playing for Saracens A,’ said Du Plessis. ‘I sat down with Kelly and said: “This has come about. Talk to me about it”.
‘He had nothing but admiration for Glasgow. He spoke really highly of them, and said just as long as I could get my head around the weather.’
Many will view this as an inspired signing from Rennie. The man at the helm understands what Du Plessis can do.
‘We’re obviously down to our last two tightheads, we’re now heading into europe and we’re only one more injury away from being under massive pressure,’ said Rennie, who yesterday saw second row Brian Alainu’uese depart to Toulon.
‘The key for us is we need someone who can potentially give us an edge, especially at scrum time. Outside of that, he’s an explosive athlete, he’s a good man and he’s slotted in quickly.
‘He is very professional. It’s a big week for him.
‘I’ve no doubt he knows a fair bit about individuals in their team and, hopefully, that will help him in his role for us.’