The Springboks will have to turn to their third-choice hooker to face the Wallabies on Saturday after Bismarck du Plessis was suspended.

Du Plessis was banned for three weeks - but will miss only the one match - after being found guilty of making contact with the eye area of All Blacks flanker Adam Thompson during Saturday's upset 30-28 Tri Nations win in Dunedin.

With skipper and first choice hooker John Smit already back home in South Africa after suffering a groin injury in the first Tri Nations Test loss to New Zealand a week earlier, the Boks must find a new rake to play the Wallabies at Subiaco Oval in Perth.

They could turn to skilful Stormers rake Schalk Brits who was called into the squad as a replacement last week.

Du Plessis appeared before SANZAR judicial officer Kim Garling in Dunedin and acknowledged his fist had come into contact with Thomson's lower cheek and then his left hand knuckle appeared to come into contact with Thomson's face near the eye area.

Video footage showed no visible mark to Thomson's face as a result of the contact.

Garling agreed that du Plessis' action, while careless, was not deliberate but he said any action in which a player's hand contacted the eye or eye area of a another player was serious.

He imposed a suspension of three weeks up to and including August 3 but the Springboks have only one game in that time.

After their Tri Nations clash with the Wallabies their next match is against Argentina on August 9 in Johannesburg before taking on the All Blacks in another Tri-Nations match at Cape Town on August 16.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP