Boks ‘100% behind Dricus’ as excitement builds for Perth ‘double header’

The Springboks will be fully behind Dricus du Plessis when he takes on great rival Israel Adesanya from Nigeria in his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight crown defence in Perth on Sunday morning (SA time).

A day earlier, the Boks are in action against the Wallabies, also in Perth, in their second match in the 2024 Rugby Championship.

The Boks got their challenge for the title under way last weekend with a 33-7 win against the Wallabies in Brisbane.

The highly-anticipated Du Plessis-Adesanya fight is finally happening at UFC305 after years of talking and both men claiming to be the best in the business and Africa’s top fighter. Du Plessis won the middleweight belt after beating Sean Strickland in Toronto in January.

‘Would be fantastic’

Speaking ahead of the big weekend double-header in Perth, which is home to thousands of former South Africans, Springbok assistant coach Duane Vermeulen said the world champions were “100% behind” Du Plessis, who is also a huge Bok fan.

“It would be really good to top it off like that,” said Vermeulen when asked his thoughts about the South Africans doing the double in Australia this weekend.

“It would be fantastic for South Africa (if the Boks and Du Plessis both won at the weekend).

“As a team we’ll try to deliver our best performance, and then it’s up to Dricus.

“Our first focus is obviously on us, but we’ll be 100% behind him.”

Asked if the Boks would head to the RAC Arena in Perth to watch Du Plessis and Adesanya in action after their Test on Saturday, Vermeulen said: “If the guys think it’s a good idea, I’m sure some of them will do that.

“But there is also a group of guys flying back earlier (than others) from Perth to South Africa, so I don’t know (about guys going to the Du Plessis fight).”