White sees areas of grey in Bismarck’s red card incident

Bismarck du Plessis’s red card was not the deciding factor but helped contribute to the toil the Bulls faced before the curtain dropped on their 29-24 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over Munster at Loftus on Saturday.

Du Plessis, on as second-half substitute, was sent off for lifting Munster’s Alex Kendellen over his shoulder, sending the No 8 headfirst into the ruck.

It may not have been the hooker’s intention to cause physical harm to the opposing player, but his actions were reckless and hardly befitting a Springbok of vast experience.

The laws are clear — when a player is lifted off the ground it is the duty of the lifter to return that player safely to the playing surface.

Du Plessis’s banishment left the Bulls to scramble in the closing minutes, as fast-finishing Munster looked set to overturn a deficit that at one point stood at 23 points.

The Bulls held on but they will have much to mull over in the coming days.

Having players ordered from the field has become a theme for them at Loftus this season. While they were able to hang on this time, it cost them dearly in their defeats to the Stormers and the Sharks.

Madosh Tambwe was yellow-carded at a crucial time in their defeat to the Stormers, before an even heavier sanction undermined them against the Sharks.

“We can’t keep doing that week in and week out,” coach Jake White sighed. “The last time we played here, Morné Steyn got a red card. Again, we were down to 14 men. At this level of rugby, you can’t afford to go down to 14 men.”

While White admitted the Du Plessis indiscretion made it harder for the Bulls, he was not ready to entirely condemn the hooker’s actions.

“I don’t think it was malicious. I don’t think it was dirty. I can’t see that as a high tackle or hitting someone on the head,” White said.

“At the end of the day, he was almost diving over him. He [Du Plessis] was a bit silly. He should have held the guy up and put him back on the ground.”

White said he hoped common sense would prevail in the disciplinary review of Du Plessis’s actions.

“I was going to start him on Wednesday against the Sharks, so hopefully we get that sanction sooner rather than later.”

The win kept the Bulls in touch with the conference-leading Sharks, who earned a bonus point on Friday when they downed the Scarlets. White was relieved his team got the win and were rightly reminded that Munster are redoubtable opposition.

“Munster are not an easy team to play against. There’s a reason they are third on the log, and they’re consistently in the top two of the competition.”