Is Bismark fed up?

What a rugby game we were privileged enough to witness yesterday in the windy city. A full strength Springbok team against a flimsy All Black outfit that rested its hard nosed veterans to be at full strength in next weeks Suncorp stadium battle.

Our Boks looked the part, bar 31 missed tackles in a game that had all the gloss of a South Africa vs New Zealand rugby match but lacked the poise at the best of times. One scary incident did rear its ugly head. The reality that our beloved hooker Bismark du Plessis could finally have had enough of having to make way for mediocrity.

With the game tittering on a knife edge, John Smit was introduced into the game with about 20 odd minutes remaining in a must win game for the Boks. As he was walking off the field Bismark shook his head in discontent, clear for everyone to see that he was not happy to be substituted at such a crucial time in the intriguing encounter.

I for one feel for Du Plessis, who is putting in workman like performances week in week out but it seems as if they aren’t being acknowledged. All participants of professional sport have the responsibility to bring their side to the party and anyone who says Bismark hasn’t brought his weights worth is smoking his socks. I believe it is a professional sportsman’s responsibility to acknowledge when their time is up and in my humble opinion, John Smit is failing us in this regard.

I have been saying that this John Smit issue could potentially cripple the Springbok chances of retaining the William Webb Ellis trophy in less then 3 weeks and yesterday was the first glimpse at that sorry occurrence.
Many people might not agree with my point of view pertaining to this issue, you might say it was unprofessional of Du Plessis to show such displeasure in full public view. My response to you will be that Bismark has earned his keep in that Springbok team and deserves to be treated as such. If this continues to happen, our best young players will seek the comforts of the Pound and the Euro on a more regular basis because they will feel their services are being undervalued by the powers that be.

I support Bismark’s reaction, it’s about time our young influential players stand up to soon to be forgotten senior players that don’t know when their tenures are expired.

S.M.