This is the second article in the series of Cell C Sharks Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.

We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.

In this Article we look at the contenders for HOOKERS in the Cell C Sharks 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.

The Contenders:

Name: Bismarck du Plessis:

Position Hooker Height 1.89 Weight 114kg Date of Birth 22 May 1985 Place of Birth Bethlehem Provincial Debut 2003 for Free State Cheetahs Provincial Caps 44 Provincial Points 60 Super Rugby Debut 2005 vs Waratahs Super Rugby Caps 103 Super Rugby Points 70 Test Debut 7 July 2007 vs Wallabies Test Caps 57 Test Points 45

A product of the famous Grey College in Bloemfontein, alongside teammates Ruan Pienaar, Andries Strauss, Jannie du Plessis and Francois Steyn, hooker Bismarck du Plessis has risen to prominence as one of the toughest hookers in the world. A dedicated and committed player who is a sure pick at the Sharks and Springboks.

Bismarck briefly represented the Free State Cheetahs in 2003 before moving to the harks, where he has amassed 42 Provincial caps, 103 Super Rugby caps and 57 Springbok caps.

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. The Du Plessis brothers became the 23rd set of brothers to earn caps for South Africa at rugby union.

Following an illness to Pierre Spies, Bismarck du Plessis was called into South Africa’s squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup and 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.

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 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.

In 2012 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 which the Boks won 22-17. He also scored a try in the second test which the springboks won 36-27 thanks to a late try from right winger JP Pietersen.

Red Card Controversy – During the 4th round of the 2013 Rugby Championship at Eden Park, Auckland, referee Romain Poite yellow-carded Du Plessis for what he deemed was an illegal tackle on New Zealand fly-half, Dan Carter. He and the IRB later admitted he made an error in carding Du Plessis. Du Plessis received another yellow card in the game after “an elbow to the throat” of New Zealand flanker Liam Messam, and thus Poite issued a red card. This red card was later overturned by the IRB and struck from Du Plessis’ record.

Name: Kyle Cooper:

Position Hooker Height 1.78 Weight 109 kg Date of Birth 10 February 1989 Place of Birth Johannesburg Provincial Debut 2010 Provincial Caps 66 Provincial Points 25 Super Rugby Debut 2012 Super Rugby Caps 17 Super Rugby Points 5 Test Debut Test Caps 0 Test Points 0

Kyle is a product from Natal and attended Glenwood High. He has the following playing career:

• 2002 – EP Under 13
• 2005 – Sharks U16 Coca Cola Grant Khomo Week
• 2008 – Sharks Under 19 Competition
• 2009 – South Africa IRB Junior World Championships, Sharks Under 21 Competition
• 2010 – Sharks Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup Friendlies, Under 21 Competition, Currie Cup Premier Division
• 2011 – Sharks Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup Friendlies, Currie Cup Premier Division
• 2012 – Sharks Vodacom Cup, Sharks Super Rugby, Currie Cup Premier Division
• 2013 – Sharks Super Rugby, Currie Cup Premier Division

Kyle has now already played in 66 Provincial games for the Sharks (scored 25 points) and 17 Super Rugby games (scored 5 points).

In 2013 Kyle had a very good season and has ensured that he became a regular in the Sharks match day squad.

He will not let a Super Rugby side down and was pure quality in 2013.

Name: Monde Sakhile “Monde” Hadebe:

Position Hooker Height 1.77m Weight 102 kg Date of Birth 9 December 1990 Place of Birth Durban Provincial Debut 2011 Provincial Caps 32 Provincial Points 0 Super Rugby Debut Super Rugby Caps 0 Super Rugby Points 0 Test Debut Test Caps 0 Test Points 0

Monde attended Westville Boys’ High School and has grown up in the Sharks youth teams.

His playing career is as follows:

• 2006 – Natal U16 Coca Cola Grant Khomo Week
• 2007 – KZN U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week
• 2008 – Under 18 Elite Squads, KZN U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week
• 2009 – Sharks ABSA Under 19 Competition
• 2010 – Sharks ABSA Under 21 Competition, South Africa IRB Junior World Championship
• 2011 – Sharks Vodacom Cup, Under 21 Competition, Currie Cup Premier Division
• 2012 – Sharks Vodacom Cup, made Super Rugby squad, Currie Cup Premier Division
• 2013 – Sharks Vodacom Cup, made Super Rugby squad, Currie Cup Premier Division

With depth in Super Rugby squads more and more important and rotation becoming a necessity rather than a luxury, we might see Monde get some game time in Super Rugby, specially since Craig Burden has left for overseas and will not feature.

Starters:

The Sharks are virtually assured to start with Bismarck du Plessis, with Kyle Cooper on the bench. In a rotational setup or in case of injury to Bismarck du Plessis, Kyle might even get some starts in Super Rugby in 2014.

The next Article in the range will deal with the Cell C Sharks’ locks.