Bismarck du Plessis

The Cell C Sharks third round Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld proved to be a very physical encounter that was contested passionately by the respective teams on the day.

During the match there was an off the ball incident that took place involving Bismarck du Plessis and Victor Matfield. On reflection after the match, Bismarck realised that he acted inappropriately with his choice of language used and would like to apologise for his behaviour.

“I am blessed to be able to play the game I love professionally and by my very competitive nature, whenever I take to the field, I play the game hard and always strive to play fairly. Sometimes during heated exchanges one finds it difficult to control emotions and as a result things get said, which we are not proud off”, said du Plessis.

“What I said on Saturday, which was clearly visible especially to the youngsters watching was inappropriate and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone that I let down.”

He added: “The great thing about sport is the camaraderie shared amongst players and despite incidents that may take place on field we are still able to maintain friendships off it. I have great respect for Victor, who is a good friend of mine. We chatted about the incident on Sunday at the Springbok camp and there was no animosity between us. In fact, we had a great training session together.

“I always strive to be a good role-model for the youngsters out there and I thank our fans for their invaluable support.”