'You need your 12 a bit unstable' — Ruhan Nel on Dan du Plessis' Stormers return for Dragons

Stormers captain Ruhan Nel is eager to rekindle his long-standing midfield partnership with the “unstable individual” Dan du Plessis when they host the Dragons on Sunday afternoon in Cape Town.

The duo, who spearheaded their United Rugby Championship (URC) title-winning campaign in 2022, are reunited in midfield following Du Plessis’ return from injury. The hard-running inside centre will play his first match of the year at DHL Stadium (3pm kick-off).

Du Plessis has recovered from a knee injury and will be keen to showcase his abilities after Springbok Damian Willemse and rookie Jonathan Roche delivered strong performances in the No 12 jersey.

Nel is excited to line up alongside Du Plessis again. The captain came through a gruelling but successful 80 minutes in the 32–19 victory over the Bulls last weekend and will hope the same is true of his centre partner.

“Johan le Roux (Stormers CEO) told me this week that Dan and I have the second-most caps as a starting centre pairing in Stormers history, behind De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert, which is quite special,” Nel said.

“A Du Plessis is an unstable individual. If you look at Jean-Luc and Dan, they are two real characters on the field. Duppie (Dan) and I go a long way back. We played the entire first URC season together, and in the second, he had a niggle. We’ve been playing together since 2018.

“With time, you begin to understand a guy’s body language and how he thinks. Defensively, you’re far more in tune; when it comes to splitting centres, you’re much sharper together. I’m very excited to have him back after his injury.

“Just having him on the field — he’s an absolute character. You actually need your 12 to be a little bit unstable sometimes. I’m very excited for him.”