Bismarck bides his time on bench
Tuesday 20 September 2011, 6:14PM
386 views
South Africa hooker Bismarck du Plessis is brutally honest when asked how he feels about sitting on the bench.
"You want to do your part on the field. It’s definitely not nice sitting on the bench," said du Plessis, who will be rested for Thursday's Pool D match against Namibia.
"If there is a guy who tells you it’s nice sitting on the bench he would be lying. You want to play, you want to start, definitely, but you’ve got a job to do."
Du Plessis has been caught in a difficult situation as many Springboks fans believe he should be the starting hooker, but coach Peter de Villiers has stuck solid with captain John Smit for the team's big matches.
It is never easy for good players to be watching the action from the sidelines.
Former Australia scrum half Chris Whitaker, who spent the best part of his career as a back-up to George Gregan, had the nickname `Anthems' because his contribution to the Wallabies was mostly restricted to lining up with his teammates before matches to sing the national anthem.
Bruising encounters
So what is the worst part for du Plessis about keeping the bench warm?
"The worst part is that warm-up because you’re tight, you’ve had a hard week and then you have to warm yourself up and then sit for 60 minutes on the bench," he said.
"I don’t want to be seen as an impact player. I want to be seen as a hooker."
Smit has worn the No.2 jersey for South Africa's wins over Wales and Fiji and will also start against Namibia on Thursday.
"We had two really bruising encounters and from all of those, John is the only one standing, so you can see how valuable he is," de Villiers said on Tuesday.
The outspoken coach said it was important to manage his players' workload throughout the tournament but he could not give everyone a rest.
"I said I'm going to manage the players. I didn't say that every week everybody else would play. Along the line we'll have to manage John, too.
"We want to have 30 players fit for when we get to the proper tough games. We are really getting thin at the moment."