VIDEO: Jannie du Plessis red carded for striking fellow South African

It may well be that for the Dr Jannie du Plessis the age old adage ‘First do no harm’ does not apply when it comes to the rugby pitch.

The Montpellier tighthead – no stranger to the odd on field confrontation – was red carded in his side’s clash with Racing. Du Plessis lost his cool at a ruck near his own line and fellow South African Bernard Le Roux bore the brunt of his frustrations.

Romain Poite referred the matter to TMO and du Plessis was duly given his marching orders.

Hosts Montpellier finished third in the table in the regular season, 14 points ahead of the capital city side.

But it was the visitors who started strongly at Altrad Stadium on Saturday, Leone Nakarawa selling a dummy to dot down in the 15th minute and Dan Carter converting, Racing team-mate Yannick Nyanga having been denied a try moments earlier for entering touch.

A sustained period of Montpellier pressure led to Benoit Paillaugue taking a penalty quickly and scoring for the home team in the 19th minute, Willie du Plessis adding the extras.

Montpellier were back on level terms for just four minutes, though, before Teddy Thomas crossed and Carter converted to send Racing back in front.

Demetri Catrakilis sent over penalties for Montpellier either side of half-time, but they lost Francois Steyn to the sin bin in the 48th minute for a dangerous tackle on Nyanga.

After a nervous second half from both teams, Rokocoko was found in space out on the right and crossed with six minutes to go to afford Racing some breathing room.

And although Carter missed the conversion attempt, he dispatched a late penalty to make absolutely sure after Jannie Du Plessis was sent off for throwing punches.