Cape Town - The Sharks will have to pay John Plumtree for the next two years after the coach left the union following a meeting with new CEO John Smit, a report on the Beeld website indicates.
This comes after Plumtree - who was earlier sacked by Smit - met with the Sharks boss on Tuesday to discuss the terms of his release.
Plumtree was due to coach the Sharks until the end of this year's Super Rugby competition, but stepped down with immediate effect following the meeting.
He brought his legal team to the meeting to argue that he should be paid out for the full two-year contract extension he was promised by the current CEO, Brian van Zyl.
Van Zyl, who is set to step down from his role, recently indicated he wanted the Sharks to keep Plumtree as head coach. Plumtree's legal team argued that Van Zyl's verbal agreement with him is binding.
And that verbal agreement between Van Zyl and Plumtree now means the Sharks will have to cough up for the next two years, even though Plumtree won't be part of their plans.
Smit also recently announced the appointment of Brendan Venter as new Director of Rugby at the Sharks. Venter will perform the role of overseeing all coaching proceedings at the union, while former Sharks flank Brad MacLeod-Henderson is the favourite to fill the head coach position, starting in this year's Currie Cup.
Meanwhile, the Sharks confirmed on Wednesday that assistant coaches Grant Bashford and Hugh Reece-Edwards will take over the team's coaching duties for the remainder of the Super Rugby competition.
This comes after Plumtree - who was earlier sacked by Smit - met with the Sharks boss on Tuesday to discuss the terms of his release.
Plumtree was due to coach the Sharks until the end of this year's Super Rugby competition, but stepped down with immediate effect following the meeting.
He brought his legal team to the meeting to argue that he should be paid out for the full two-year contract extension he was promised by the current CEO, Brian van Zyl.
Van Zyl, who is set to step down from his role, recently indicated he wanted the Sharks to keep Plumtree as head coach. Plumtree's legal team argued that Van Zyl's verbal agreement with him is binding.
And that verbal agreement between Van Zyl and Plumtree now means the Sharks will have to cough up for the next two years, even though Plumtree won't be part of their plans.
Smit also recently announced the appointment of Brendan Venter as new Director of Rugby at the Sharks. Venter will perform the role of overseeing all coaching proceedings at the union, while former Sharks flank Brad MacLeod-Henderson is the favourite to fill the head coach position, starting in this year's Currie Cup.
Meanwhile, the Sharks confirmed on Wednesday that assistant coaches Grant Bashford and Hugh Reece-Edwards will take over the team's coaching duties for the remainder of the Super Rugby competition.