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Christo Buchner
Pretoria – “Just as was the case here on Saturday, I know that very few people will be giving us a chance of beating the Crusaders in Nelson.”
Those were the words of Sharks coach John Plumtree after his team’s 26-23 victory over the Bulls here at Loftus Versfeld.
The Sharks jet out to New Zealand on Tuesday for a mission that has never ended in anything but disappointment for them. They have never been able to beat the Crusaders in an away game and also came off second best when the teams met at Twickenham in London earlier this season.
However, the manner in which the Sharks fought back in the second half of the Twickenham game and contributed to the showpiece in one of the best Super Rugby games of the season should give them hope.
“Just about nobody gave us a chance and we were just focused on not embarrassing ourselves in a full stadium,” said Plumtree.
“We already have a tough week behind us with this Bulls game and now it’s getting even tougher. It’s going to be anything but easy to fly to Nelson and then still try and get a positive result.
“We will have to shake off the jet-lag and get used to the environment there. Saturday’s game (the game against the Bulls) was very tough and we will have to get our attitude right for the Crusaders.
“At least we have Monday to do some of our preparation at home and to plan our strategy.”
He added that it had helped a great deal to be able to be together as a group at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng outside Rustenburg last week.
“We worked out in detail how we would disrupt the Bulls and the plan was executed superbly (to disrupt their lineouts and not allow them to wreak havoc with their driving play from that phase),” said Plumtree.
“Now it’s a new phase of the tournament. While we are not the favourites, we believe a good performance on the day can lead to success. You can be sure that we will give it our all.”
He also revealed that Springbok captain John Smit, who only played a few minutes towards the end, had almost been sent home with a stomach bug on Thursday night.
“It was not at all a good week for John. He had diarrhoea and was nauseous. His hamstring also did not feel good,” said Plumtree.
Pretoria – “Just as was the case here on Saturday, I know that very few people will be giving us a chance of beating the Crusaders in Nelson.”
Those were the words of Sharks coach John Plumtree after his team’s 26-23 victory over the Bulls here at Loftus Versfeld.
The Sharks jet out to New Zealand on Tuesday for a mission that has never ended in anything but disappointment for them. They have never been able to beat the Crusaders in an away game and also came off second best when the teams met at Twickenham in London earlier this season.
However, the manner in which the Sharks fought back in the second half of the Twickenham game and contributed to the showpiece in one of the best Super Rugby games of the season should give them hope.
“Just about nobody gave us a chance and we were just focused on not embarrassing ourselves in a full stadium,” said Plumtree.
“We already have a tough week behind us with this Bulls game and now it’s getting even tougher. It’s going to be anything but easy to fly to Nelson and then still try and get a positive result.
“We will have to shake off the jet-lag and get used to the environment there. Saturday’s game (the game against the Bulls) was very tough and we will have to get our attitude right for the Crusaders.
“At least we have Monday to do some of our preparation at home and to plan our strategy.”
He added that it had helped a great deal to be able to be together as a group at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng outside Rustenburg last week.
“We worked out in detail how we would disrupt the Bulls and the plan was executed superbly (to disrupt their lineouts and not allow them to wreak havoc with their driving play from that phase),” said Plumtree.
“Now it’s a new phase of the tournament. While we are not the favourites, we believe a good performance on the day can lead to success. You can be sure that we will give it our all.”
He also revealed that Springbok captain John Smit, who only played a few minutes towards the end, had almost been sent home with a stomach bug on Thursday night.
“It was not at all a good week for John. He had diarrhoea and was nauseous. His hamstring also did not feel good,” said Plumtree.
