Women’s Rugby World Cup: Black Ferns centre Amy du Plessis ruled out of tournament

Amy du Plessis’ World Cup campaign has come to an abrupt end because of a shoulder injury suffered in the side’s opening game against Spain.

The Black Ferns midfielder appeared to pick up the injury when she landed awkwardly in a tackle close to the try line late in the first half. While she was able to make it to halftime in that match, she was replaced at the break.

After missing the second and third pool play matches against Japan and Ireland, du Plessis had been named to return from the bench for tomorrow morning’s quarter-final against South Africa.

However, the Black Ferns updated their team for the clash early this morning, confirming the 26-year-old’s tournament was over.

Katelyn Vahaakolo will return to the matchday squad for her second appearance in this World Cup in du Plessis’ place on the bench.

Du Plessis will remain with the team in England to continue working through the injury, with a replacement player set to join the team in the coming days should they progress into the semifinals.

Tomorrow morning’s match against the Springbok Women will be the second time the two sides have met, with the Black Ferns claiming a resounding win in 2010.

The South Africans split a two-match series against the Black Ferns XV before the World Cup and, after they named a 7-1 bench split for the quarter-final, Black Ferns director of performance Allan Bunting said he had a fair idea of what to expect from the side.

“That’s their DNA, right? They want to go through us,” Bunting said.

“They’ve got some speed out wide too and they’ve got a halfback that likes to speed up things. We haven’t played them, but we’ve watched them quite closely.

“It’s pretty obvious what they’re wanting to do this week, but we’ve got a plan on what we want to do too and we’re up for the challenge.”

Black Ferns: 1. Chryss Viliko, 2. Georgia Ponsonby, 3. Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu, 4. Maiakawanakaulani Roos, 5. Alana Bremner, 6. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, 7. Jorja Miller, 8. Kaipo Olsen-Baker, 9. Maia Joseph, 10. Ruahei Demant (cc), 11. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, 12. Theresa Setefano, 13. Stacey Waaka, 14. Braxton Sorensen-McGee, 15. Renee Holmes.

Bench: 16. Atlanta Lolohea, 17. Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, 18. Kate Henwood, 19. Laura Bayfield, 20. Kennedy Tukuafu (cc), 21. Iritana Hohaia 22. Katelyn Vahaakolo, 23. Ayesha Leti-I’iga.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.