Cape Town - Closing in on 39, Bismarck du Plessis has seen most things on a rugby field.
He is longing for his farm in the eastern Free State region, so much so that he didn’t really want to be drawn on his controversial yellow card for a clean-out on Ulster flyhalf Billy Burns in last weekend’s 32-23 United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat in Belfast.
“I think we should keep ourselves to the game on Sunday, rather than talk about officiating and the IRB rulings and stuff like that, because like I said, if you phone me in a few months’ time and I am on the farm with my kids, I will give you my 100% co-operation,” the veteran hooker said from France yesterday.
“I’ve never been somebody who looks at my own decisions, and how things are made while being a rugby player. When I’m retired, I will give you my full co-operation … my full heart of what I think about it. But at the moment, I can’t be talking about the officials.”
Of course, Sunday is a big occasion – a Champions Cup last16 showdown with Toulouse (4pm kick-off) – and Du Plessis knows his way around French rugby fields after playing over 100 games for Montpellier up until 2021, when he joined the Bulls.
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The Pretoria side are on an eight-match losing streak in all competitions, and while they came close to ending that unwanted run last week, Du Plessis issued the rallying cry to his younger teammates about how they can turn things around.
“Oh! It’s a totally different mindset compared to how we approach rugby. When I was in France, you had these super professional players who have been at the top of their game for a very long time, and then you almost come into certain places where it’s very amateur – the way it’s run,” the former Bok No 2 said.
“The supporters are hostile. At Toulouse, it’s a 150-metre walk towards the change-room, and you walk in this small path and the supporters are shouting and screaming – you don’t understand a word of French ...
“So, it’s a big gauntlet you have to overcome to arrive in the changeroom. Then you put your boots on, and this mass of supporters of the club is shouting at you like you can’t believe.
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“They are at the top of the Top 14, about eight or nine points ahead of the second guy. When I was young, these are the games where you can make your name – these are the games that you can change your whole future (in). These are the games that stories are made of …
“That’s our main focus. To be really successful this weekend, we really need a team performance from one to 23, and 23 to 28. We need the buy-in from every person, from top to bottom. We need a few better tricks; we need to stop their offload game. We need to stop their physical runners.”
Du Plessis is relishing the prospect of taking on star French hooker Julien Marchand again, but is positive that the Bulls pack can also improve their maul defence on Sunday – something which Ulster exploited somewhat.
“I’ve played a few times against Julien – I’ve played here when we’ve beaten them and lost to them. The challenge is not me against Julien … It’s from our loosehead to KurtLee (Arendse) at the back. Each and every person has to win their personal battles in every small aspect of the game,” he said.
“It (maul defence) is something we really prepped well for last week, and I think we have to give a guy like Duane (Vermeulen) and the whole Ulster team (credit). They really took that front ball and put us under pressure.
“We stopped them a few times, but they did make metres and got some points off that. It was difficult to concede points when we were doing so well. It’s definitely something we need to work on this week.
“But in France, they drive a lot differently … Their maul is a lot different – it’s all about weight and power rather than technique, like Ulster. We must just be able to match their weight and power.”
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