Bismarck du Plessis

Bismarck Wilhelm du Plessis (born 22 May 1984) is a South African former professional rugby union player, who played for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He played for the Free State Cheetahs in 2003, before moving to the Sharks in 2005 where he spent the bulk of his career, and then to Montpellier in the French Top 14. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the best "Hookers" of his time, both in club and country performances.

Bismarck du Plessis
Birth nameBismarck Wilhelm du Plessis
Date of birth (1984-05-22) 22 May 1984
Place of birthBethlehem, Orange Free State, Republic of South Africa
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb)
SchoolGrey College, Bloemfontein
UniversityUniversity of the Free State
Notable relative(s)Jannie du Plessis (brother)
Tabbie du Plessis (brother)
SpouseAnja du Plessis
ChildrenFrançois Theodorus du Plessis, Gideon Fick du Plessis
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2021
2021–2023		 Montpellier
Bulls		 108
29		 (135)
(25)
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
2003
2005–2015
2022–		 Free State Cheetahs
Sharks (Currie Cup)
Blue Bulls		 2
39
5		 (0)
(50)
(15)
Correct as of 3 April 2023
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2005–2015 Sharks 131 (100)
Correct as of 14 June 2015
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2005
2007–2015
2007
2014–2015		 South Africa Under-21
South Africa (test)
South Africa (tour) [lower-alpha 1]
Springboks [lower-alpha 1]		 1
79
2
2		 (0)
(55)
(0)
(10)
Correct as of 30 October 2015

Career

A native of the town of Bethlehem in the Free State province, Bismarck du Plessis made his debut for the Sharks in Super Rugby (then the Super 12) in 2005. As he plays hooker and played in the same team as South Africa's past captain, John Smit, for much of his career he had been a backup to Smit; however, this changed when Smit moved to tighthead prop. Before Smit's change of position, Du Plessis nonetheless played in Super Rugby and the Currie Cup whenever Smit was unavailable, and in 2007 was selected to play for South Africa in the Tri Nations Series. He made his debut for South Africa as a substitute in the same game against Australia in Sydney in which his older brother, Jannie, who was in the starting XV, also made his Springboks debut.[4] The Du Plessis brothers became the 23rd set of brothers to earn caps for South Africa at rugby union.[5]

Following an illness to Pierre Spies, Bismarck du Plessis was called into South Africa's squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup;[6] his brother Jannie was a later addition to the squad, replacing BJ Botha, who injured a knee in South Africa's final pool match against the USA.[7]

During the 2008 end-of-year Test series, the Springboks moved Smit to tighthead in order to accommodate both him and the younger, faster Du Plessis in the front row together; this change has continued through the 2009 Super 14 season and into the Boks' 2009 Test season.

After South Africa's second game of the 2008 Tri Nations Series, against New Zealand, Du Plessis was cited for an eye-gouge on New Zealand's Adam Thomson. At the subsequent disciplinary hearing, which was the first of his career, the judicial officer found that his action had been "careless", not deliberate, and imposed a three-week suspension, a significantly lower penalty than the three-to-six months' suspensions routinely imposed for deliberate eye-gouging.[8]

2012–2015

Du Plessis was selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup along with his brother Jannie. He came off the bench against Wales in which South Africa won 17–16. He then won a man of the match performance in June 2012 against England in the second test and also scored a try as the Springboks won 36-27 thanks to a late try from right winger JP Pietersen. During the 2013 Rugby Championship, Du Plessis received two yellow cards in a match against New Zealand and was then issued a red card. The IRB later admitted an error in one of the yellow cards. This red card was later overturned by the IRB and struck from Du Plessis' record.[9][10][11] Bismarck has since featured prominently for the Springboks, being first-choice hooker. He was also selected for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[12]

Notes
  1. In addition to playing in test matches, Du Plessis featured in four non-test matches for South Africa.[1] Two of these were international tour matches in 2007, and in 2014[2] and 2015,[3] he played in matches against a World XV in Cape Town. These matches have an equivalent status to international tour matches, but were played on home soil.

References
  1. South African Rugby Annual 2016. South African Rugby Union. 2016. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-620-69290-8.
  2. South African Rugby Annual 2015. South African Rugby Union. 2015. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-620-62087-1.
  3. South African Rugby Annual 2016. South African Rugby Union. 2016. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-620-69290-8.
  4. "Sharks swoop for Du Plessis Snr". Planet-Rugby.com. 8 August 2007. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  5. "Bonus for Du Plessis brothers". iAfrica.com. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  6. "Du Plessis replaces injured Spies". BBC. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. de Koning, Jan (1 October 2007). "Planes, Trains and Bloem babies". Planet-Rugby.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  8. "Springbok du Plessis handed three-week suspension". ABC News. Australia. 13 July 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2012. After viewing video evidence, Garling found the contact was 'careless and not deliberate.'
  9. "Rugby Championship: Referee Romain Poite admits to yellow card error - ESPN Scrum". Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  10. "Planet Rugby - Rugby Union Tournaments - Tri Nations - Poite got first yellow card wrong: IRB". Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  11. "South African Rugby: Red card struck from Bismarck Du Plessis' record - ESPN Scrum". Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  12. "Heyneke Meyer announces Springbok Rugby World Cup squad". Retrieved 2 July 2016.
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