sentences:  A native of the town of Bethlehem in the Free State province, Bismarck du Plessis made his debut for the Sharks in Super Rugby (then the Super 12) in 2005.As he plays hooker and played in the same team as South Africa's past captain, John Smit, for much of his career he had been a backup to Smit; however, this changed when Smit moved to tighthead prop.Before Smit's change of position, Du Plessis nonetheless played in Super Rugby and the Currie Cup whenever Smit was unavailable, and in 2007 was selected to play for South Africa in the Tri Nations Series.