Jake White Bulls URC

Bulls coach Jake White has said Bismarck du Plessis’ straight red card against Munster was not malicious or dirty. Photo: Twitter @BluebullsRugby

Jake White defends Bismarck du Plessis after red card for THIS moment of madness

Bulls coach Jake White has said Bismarck du Plessis’ straight red card against Munster was not malicious or dirty.

Jake White Bulls URC

Bulls coach Jake White has said Bismarck du Plessis’ straight red card against Munster was not malicious or dirty. Photo: Twitter @BluebullsRugby

Bulls coach Jake White has said Bismarck du Plessis’ red card against Munster was not malicious or dirty.

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Jake White added that he hoped Du Plessis would be cleared by the judiciary hearing which automatically follows any red card so that he can play in the Currie Cup this week.

The Blue Bulls are due to host the Sharks on Wednesday, 16 March at 20:00.

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After leading 26-3 at half-time in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, the Bulls survived a Munster fightback in the second half before running out 29-24 winners.

Bismarck du Plessis’ red card didn’t make the job easier

Their job wasn’t made any easier by Du Plessis’ 70th-minute red card when he lifted Munster No 8 Alex Kendellen by the legs and back-flipped him over his shoulders in a move better suited to a WWE ring!

Kendellen landed head-first onto Bulls scrumhalf Zak Burger, who was lying on the ground, leading referee Ben Whitehouse to issue a straight red card.

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“I was going to start him on Wednesday against the Sharks, so hopefully we will get that sanction sooner rather than later,” Jake White reportedly said according to IOL.

“I don’t think it was malicious… I don’t think it was dirty. The reality is that I can’t see that it is a high tackle, hitting someone on the head. At the end of the day, the guy was almost diving over him. He (Du Plessis) was a bit silly and should’ve held the guy up and just pull him back on the ground.

“But as we said, they came hard at the breakdown, and it’s one of those situations. I hope that common sense will prevail.

“In terms of how it affects me, I’m probably very fortunate in that I’ve got quite a few hookers signed with us. We’ve still got Joe van Zyl, Schalk Erasmus, Sidney Tobias – and Jan-Hendrik (Wessels) should be back in the next couple of weeks as well.

“You want a guy like Bismarck involved, with his experience and all the Tests he’s played. He is too good to do things like that. But I will sort it out with him. I will speak to him, and if we are going to grow as a team, it’s important that players like that must realise that young guys look up to them, and we can’t afford to every week give away a stupid card or play with 14 men,” Jake White concluded.