Emotional Bismarck will miss Sharks
Bismarck, his brother Jannie and Springbok flank Willem Alberts are officially off to France next season and will play their final game in front of the Kings Park faithful on Saturday.
Speaking earlier in the week, Du Plessis said playing for the Sharks was the culmination of a childhood dream and leaving the Union was a difficult decision.
Du Plessis was particularly sentimental about playing alongside his brother Jannie for many years – saying he would have been content just playing club rugby in his home town.
“You know how special it is for us, it was always the plan for Jannie and I to play rugby together. I thought even if we could have played together for Bethlehem dorp that would have been okay, so to play here at the Sharks with him has been so special,” du Plessis said.
“Other players who have been like brothers to me have been Beast - him, Jannie and I must have played 150 games together. JP Pietersen – who got married over the weekend – I can’t remember a game that I didn’t play with him. Then there’s Odwa Ndungane, and Ryan Kankowski, who has been my roommate from 2005. We went through a lot together, it’s really special and that’s why we’re such a close-knit group. We’re like brothers,” the burly Bok hooker said.
The Grey Bloem product made his debut for the Sharks back in 2005 and is now the most capped Shark at Super Rugby level, with 129 caps to his name. He fondly recalled watching rugby at Kings Park as a youngster – dreaming of playing in the stadium himself.
“I was just happy to play 20 games for Bethlehem dorp at the time, and I never thought I’d have this privilege to play for the Sharks. They’ve always been my dream team, I remember as a five or six-year-old boy, Jannie and I walking along Windermere road to come watch the club champs, and watching great players like Danie Gerber and Pote Human and all those great players who dominated the club scene at the time.”
“I remember sitting at the top of the stands and wondering if I’d ever have the opportunity to play rugby.”
Du Plessis tipped his hat to two players in particular who had huge influences on his career. One of them, John Smit, kept Du Plessis as the second choice hooker at the Sharks and Springboks for a number of years.
“There have always been two guys who had an immense influence on my career. One at the time when I arrived at the Sharks was John Smit; he was absolutely instrumental in everything I did. The other guy who gave me the best of everything and was like a father to me was Johan Ackermann - just the way he conducted himself on and off the field even with the things he went through, all the ups and downs.”
While the loss of three experienced campaigners will leave a void, Du Plessis was confident the Sharks were in a healthy state.
“I’m the biggest Sharks fan and always will be, it’s about being the best and staying at the top of your game. It’s always about those succession plans when somebody leaves, and when someone comes in; will he be able to do the job? But I think the Sharks are in a great space, at the beginning we didn’t even have a gym, and I don’t think there is any better culture or place to play rugby.”
Kickoff on Saturday is at 19h10.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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