VODACOM BULLS HOOKER Bismark du Plessis has been banned for three games, with two of them backdated, following his red card during the South African side’s 29-24 win over Munster in the United Rugby Championship on 12 March.

Replacement Du Plessis received his marching orders for lifting Munster’s Alex Kendellen over his shoulder and dropping the back row vertically, head-first, to the ground.

The judicial officer overseeing the disciplinary process, Robert Mulligan of Scotland, determined that Du Plessis’ act met the threshold of a red card and warranted a further sanction. However, by dint of Du Plessis accepting that his challenge warranted a red card, and taking into consideration his previous record (one red card in his 374 previous professional appearances) as well as his conduct during the disciplinary process, he was given a 50% mitigation on the low-end entry point of a six-week ban.

Du Plessis was therefore banned for three games but he has already sat out the Bulls’ last two fixtures, versus the Sharks in the Currie Cup and versus the Scarlets in the URC. He will miss one more game, tomorrow’s Currie Cup encounter with the Lions, before being free to return to action.

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