Publications
Partners
Christo Buchner
Johannesburg – The Sharks are the South African team that has played the least number of games against their compatriots in the Super Rugby tournament.
That is why the next two weeks are of major interest to John Plumtree’s side when they take on the Stormers and Lions in Durban. After that the Sharks have their first bye.
Of the South African sides, they have only played against the Cheetahs - in the opening game.
The Sharks will not just be doing themselves, a huge favour if they beat the Stormers on Saturday, but also all the other South African teams.
A victory for the Cape side will mean that they put more daylight between themselves and the rest. Even at such an early stage in the season it can become difficult to catch them in the race to top the South African conference.
The Sharks arrived in Durban on Monday following Sunday’s match against the Crusaders at Twickenham in London. The bonus point that they earned means that the Sharks picked up 12 league points from a possible 20 on tour.
Sharks coach John Plumtree accused his team of being naive on defence in the first 20 minutes when the Crusaders broke through easily to score three tries.
“You can’t allow a team of their quality to score 15 such easy points. The Crusaders are the team against whom everybody is measured. They are standing out and will be the team to beat in the tournament,” said Plumtree.
“They are destructive in midfield and punish you if you concede possession.
“But I’m proud of the manner in which we fought back and the picture may have looked a lot different had we been able to score one more try.”
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said that he believed they could play a lot better.
“We slacked off after building a big lead in the first half and the focus was not there in the second half. I know what we’re capable of and we’ll work at getting even better,” said Blackadder.
He heaped praise on flyhalf Dan Carter, who scored 22 points with a world class performance.
Blackadder believes that centre Sonny Bill Williams, who is growing in stature every week, is capable of anything on a rugby field and he is glad that he does not have to try and stop him on his way to the try-line.
Johannesburg – The Sharks are the South African team that has played the least number of games against their compatriots in the Super Rugby tournament.
That is why the next two weeks are of major interest to John Plumtree’s side when they take on the Stormers and Lions in Durban. After that the Sharks have their first bye.
Of the South African sides, they have only played against the Cheetahs - in the opening game.
The Sharks will not just be doing themselves, a huge favour if they beat the Stormers on Saturday, but also all the other South African teams.
A victory for the Cape side will mean that they put more daylight between themselves and the rest. Even at such an early stage in the season it can become difficult to catch them in the race to top the South African conference.
The Sharks arrived in Durban on Monday following Sunday’s match against the Crusaders at Twickenham in London. The bonus point that they earned means that the Sharks picked up 12 league points from a possible 20 on tour.
Sharks coach John Plumtree accused his team of being naive on defence in the first 20 minutes when the Crusaders broke through easily to score three tries.
“You can’t allow a team of their quality to score 15 such easy points. The Crusaders are the team against whom everybody is measured. They are standing out and will be the team to beat in the tournament,” said Plumtree.
“They are destructive in midfield and punish you if you concede possession.
“But I’m proud of the manner in which we fought back and the picture may have looked a lot different had we been able to score one more try.”
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said that he believed they could play a lot better.
“We slacked off after building a big lead in the first half and the focus was not there in the second half. I know what we’re capable of and we’ll work at getting even better,” said Blackadder.
He heaped praise on flyhalf Dan Carter, who scored 22 points with a world class performance.
Blackadder believes that centre Sonny Bill Williams, who is growing in stature every week, is capable of anything on a rugby field and he is glad that he does not have to try and stop him on his way to the try-line.
