Philip de Bruin - Beeld

Durban - Springbok and Sharks hooker Bismarck du Plessis has a secret... it's his task to ensure that his older brother Jannie gets into his bed every night!

GALLERY: Top sporting siblings

The reason for this "rule" between the two siblings who share a house in Durban is because Jannie, 29, has “a distorted sleeping pattern,” the two said in a recent edition of Sharks, the Sharks’ official magazine.

Bismarck, 26, let the cat out the bag when questioned about something "no one else on earth would know about his brother".

Jannie confirmed, “I have a distorted sleeping pattern. I cannot fall asleep if I’m not in front of the TV.

“So, every night I fall asleep on the couch in the living room and then Bismarck picks me up and puts me to bed.”

In response to a comment made by Sharks captain John Smit that the two brothers are “intense competitors”, Bismarck replies: “Yes, we are probably a bit intense at times.”

Jannie feels they are probably “too intense.”

“I think it is the way we were brought up. From a very young age my mom always told us that nothing less than the very best is good enough.”

When asked about the unique situation that they as brothers pack down next to each other in the Sharks and Springbok front row, Jannie said "they do sometimes forget just how special it is. We have to remind each other that what we’ve got is something really nice, but it won’t last forever. I mean, we'll probably get wives one day!”