WP left bothered by foul play incident in previous match: 'Rules are rules'

Western Province assistant coach Nazeem Adams wouldn’t be drawn into the controversial Currie Cup incident involving Bismarck du Plessis last week, safe to say it was momentum killer for them at that stage of the contest.

Du Plessis (now suspended after initial radio silence from officials), seemed to strike WP lock Ben-Jason Dixon across the face.

After initially being flagged as foul play by the assistant referee, Television Match Officials (TMO) were not able to pull up a clear view.

Following that, the Bulls scored, putting Province on the backfoot and leaving them to chase a game they were leading at that point.

"It was at a crucial time in the game," Adams offered when he faced reporters on Tuesday.

"At that point, we had just scored and the score was 24-22. They scored a try from that incident and suddenly we are chasing the game."

"We control what we can. It is what it is. It happened. What we are focussing on this week is getting better and to take things into our own hands."

WATCH | Bismarck du Plessis in hot water over alleged punch controversy: 'It's outrageous'

Senior player Juan de Jongh weighed in on the matter.

"Being on the field [I did see] the touch judge flag it and it was called upstairs (TMO), and I don’t know why SuperSport didn’t have the angle," de Jongh said.

"We saw the punch," he affirmed, corroborating captain Nama Xaba’s account that he was standing next to the incident when it took place.

De Jongh continued:

Province currently lie second to bottom going into their clash against the high-flying Cheetahs.

It’s a reverse fixture from earlier in this season and kicks off on Friday at 17:45.