Du Plessis staying put
September 09 2008
Sharks hooker Bismarck du Plessis has snubbed Australian Super 14 franchise, the Western Force, who have been in negotiations to contract the Springbok star as their main import next season.
The Perth-based team tried to make a move on the in-form hooker, however Du Plessis is contracted to the Sharks until the end of 2009, and this year's Super 14 semi-finalists let it be known in a statement issued on Sunday that they won't be letting their key player go.
"Bismarck is contracted to us until December 2009 and we will not release him," said the statement.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) voted to lift a long-standing ban preventing Australia's four Super 14 teams from contracting any player not qualified to represent the Wallabies.
The policy shift enables clubs to acquire an international unable to play for Australia, because of the rule which limits a player to representing only one nation during his career, plus a developing player who has not yet represented the country of his birth, enabling him to naturalise after three years in Australia.
The West Australian newspaper reported that Du Plessis would be a priority for the Force, with coach John Mitchell - seeking a hooker and a tighthead prop to bolster the front row - confirming the club's interest in the rake.
Du Plessis has virtually owned the Springbok number two jersey since skipper John Smit suffered an injury in the first Tri-Nations match of the season in Wellington, New Zealand.
But with South Africa's World Cup-winning captain back in Durban after a season with French side Clermont, Du Plessis may find himself finishing the 2008 season on the Sharks' bench.
A Force official revealed the club had made contact with Du Plessis, said to have an escape clause in his South African contract if he was concerned about game-time.
But Du Plessis's attorney, Gerrie Swart, revealed some interesting details regarding the arrangement between Smit, the Sharks, and Smit's former French club.
"We anticipated earlier in the year that John Smit might return to the Sharks from French club Clermont. We reached a gentlemen's agreement with the Sharks that if this was the case, then all parties concerned should sit around the table and discuss how both players would be managed," Swart told the Daily News.
"This is what we have done and we have been assured that both players will be carefully managed and given sufficient game time to prove that they are the top two hookers in the country.
"They are both really good mates and respect each other immensely."