Plumtree: Sharks will struggle
John Plumtree says the unavailability of 10 first-choice Sharks will hamper his team’s progress to the play-offs.
The Sharks may have won the 2008 Currie Cup, but according to their coach, they’ll battle to mount a successful title defence. The Sharks were thumped 29-15 by Western Province on Saturday, a result that bodes badly for the rest of the season.
To make matters worse, captain Johann Muller was brought off in the second half with an arm injury. Plumtree confirmed the lock went to hospital to receive treatment, and at this stage, the injury looks serious. For the Sharks to lose Muller would be another debilitating blow for a team short of depth.
‘We’ve lost 10, and it may be 11 now that Johann [is in doubt],’ Plumtree told keo.co.za. ‘We’ll have to do some recruiting if he’s unavailable. Hopefully Waylon Murray, who has been out with injury for awhile, will be fully fit by next week, so that’s one positive, but otherwise we are short on numbers.
‘We know what the situation is and we’ll try to hang in there until the Springboks return. Hopefully we are still in contention for the play-offs at that point, otherwise we still have to build for the Super 14.
‘If WP don’t make the top four then there are some serious problems. For us, it’s the other way around. We just need to keep building.’
Nineteen-year-old flyhalf Guy Cronje battled in the wet conditions on Saturday, and Plumtree admitted he started the inexperienced flyhalf because he had no other option.
Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar are unavailable with the Tri-Nations tournament just a week away, but Plumtree is still hoping to sign Argentina flyhalf Juan Martin Henrnandez as soon as possible.
‘Guy is an excellent prospect for the future. He’s brave and has a lot of natural ability, but he needs to work on his kicking,’ Plumtree said.
‘To get Hernandez would be a major coup for the Sharks. It’s an ongoing process. Certain processes need to be completed before we can secure his signature, and hopefully we can complete that by next week. Bringing him here would solve a number of problems.’
Plumtree said the Sharks’ poor kicking game let them down at Newlands and was the primary reason why the visitors failed to score a single try.
‘Our kicking wasn’t accurate enough. We always knew Willem de Waal and Peter Grant were going to be a danger in that department, and they outplayed us on this occasion. Without winning the territorial battle and building the pressure, we were never going to score a try.
‘We were never going to score from 70 metres out. We needed to get into their half and build some momentum.’
Keegan Daniel was sin-binned in the second half, and as WP extended their lead in his absence, it was too much for the Sharks to reduce the deficit without their full compliment.
‘The conditions made it extremely difficult, but we gave them too much of a head start,’ said Plumtree. ‘We also conceded 10 points in about four minutes when Keegan Daniel was off, and in those kind of conditions, any lead over five points was going to be difficult to reduce.
‘I’ll have to have another look at the replay, but I didn’t think there was much wrong with what Keegan did. Perhaps we have to be more clinical at the breakdown. I thought WP’s loosies were very good in the way they tackled the ball. They made life difficult for us.’
By Jon Cardinelli
July 11th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Struggling dragons
July 11th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Province jou lekka ding!
July 11th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Ag shame, my heart bleeds. Shamepies.
Every year the Blue Bulls start the CC with 20 – 30 players unavailable, and when we say something everyone else tells us to shut up because we are whinging.
Go and check the previous years posts and you will see it.
So the sharks must shut the hell up.
July 11th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
that’s a bit defeatist after only the 1st game isn’t it?
i mean seriously….you did have a s14 strengh pack starting.
It’s only pienaar,steyn and jp that was missing today wasn’t it?
but I definately agree that without a proper 10 a side is a little screwed. Just look at the Bulls today….just how much was fourie du preez and morne steyn’s absense highlighted.
in all honesty…all the sides I saw looked uberkak
July 11th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Now u know how the Cheetahs feel every year !! Actually all teams are about 8-10 players short evens WP , I counted about 5 loosies alone unavailable to name a few.
Schalk
Koster
Loberts
Franscious louw
Vermeluen
Add Des Fountain , De Villiers , Janjies ,Mujati , Fondse and Bekker , plus the loss of Bobo and thats 12 players out !! Looks worse for Wp than the sharks actually.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Oh don’t give me that. Nobody wanted to hear WP’s story in last year’s Currie Cup and this year with our SEVENTEEN injuries in the S14.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:44 am
#5 sparticus: full Stormers team status
Andries Bekker- Springbok duty
Wicus Blaauw- playing
Gcobani Bobo- left
Schalk Brits- left
Schalk Burger- banned and would have been with the Boks
Tonderai Chavhanga- playing
Jean De Villiers- Springbok duty
Dylan Des Fountain- injured
Adriaan Fondse- injured
Deon Fourie- playing
Peter Grant- playing
Conrad Jantjes- injured (and for a year too)
Ricky Januarie- playing
Nick Koster- injured
JC Kritzinger- injured
Hilton Lobberts- injured
Francois Louw- injured
JD Moller- playing
Percy Montgomery- retired
Brian Mujati- left
Pieter Myburgh- playing (but was also out for quite some time)
Sireli Naqelevuki- playing
Morgan Newman- playing
Joe Pietersen- playing
AJ Venter- retired
Duane Vermeulen- injured
Luke Watson- playing
so if I counted correctly we’re missing 15 players out of our S14 squad
July 12th, 2009 at 12:50 am
#7 SpringbokSarah: Time for bed Sarah!!! Do your parents know you are blogging at this hour?
I saw Percy at Loftus….missed the O’Gara “mishap” cos I was watching Percy!!
July 12th, 2009 at 12:53 am
#8 carol: yeah cos I’m too hyped to sleep …
carol carol carol, keep your head in the game!
July 12th, 2009 at 12:57 am
#9 SpringbokSarah: Looks like you had the stadium to yourself…..bit empty! As for sleep…
Breathe deeply and concentrate on something really boring…..drink a milky drink……go to bed!!
July 12th, 2009 at 1:00 am
#10 carol: actually, near the top and under cover was full… me I’m nuts, so I sat behind the tunnel (landed on TV)
ok ok, let me check my superbru and I’ll go to bed
night
July 12th, 2009 at 1:12 am
argh no..is Plumtree getting the Sharks coaching disease?Strueli..Muir and now Plumb..all started progressively then the style turns in to an excuse-riddled losing grind ending in heart break and a new progressive coach. Seems to me there’s something wrong at the Sharks.. something so ingrained and deep-seated it always finds itself dominating even the best coach. Lucky if we come 4th this year.
July 12th, 2009 at 1:16 am
sorry not Strueli..Kevin Putt..
July 12th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Shame John, we know you will struggle. With or without your Boks.
The CC will be won by either WP or the Bulls this year.
Nothing you can do about it.
July 12th, 2009 at 2:12 am
#3 BlueBlood: Lol! 20-30 players missing every year?! Unbelievable!
#4 St.Petersburgbok: “It’s only pienaar,steyn and jp that was missing today wasn’t it?”
Lol! What about Beast, John Smit, Bismark Du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Adi Jacobs, Odwa Ndungane?
Anyway, this is no excuse – it’s not like this ’sudden’ lack of depth can have taken the Sharks’ management by surprise. It’s been on the cards for a while now. The Sharks have one of the smallest squads in the country – this much was evident from this year’s S14. Time to do some buying, big time.
July 12th, 2009 at 2:13 am
#14 Robzim: Lol! The Currie Cup is a long comp Rob. Let’s see what happens!
[I like your confidence after ONE game though!]
July 12th, 2009 at 9:01 am
#5 sparticus: You’re joking right? The cheetahs are always the team with the least amount of bokke out, maybe 2 or 3. Maybe. So, no, you’re not serious.
#15 wooden spoon: Go back and check the stats son. I believe it was 2007 when we started without 27 players through Bok call ups and injuries. A blogger challenged me on this and I posted the list.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:06 am
The Curry Cup has become diluted with the Springboks not being available to play for their franchises. The games are boring, strewn with refereeing decisions to penalise as much as they can and player mistakes that cause breakdown after breakdown. It was sad to see the grounds not full yesterday. And to add insult to pain is the unmanerred and unsportsman like booing, especially at Newlands. Couple this with the poor way that the B&I Lions tour was handled and sane, rational people must realise that our rugby is in some trouble – hampered by poor management, probably right at the top. Franchises will lose money with the Boks not being available to play for them. This will lead more and more players to seek fame and especially fortune overseas. Hope I am wrong about the above but somehow I doubt it.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Lack of depth…?
As Skinstad said in the preamble to the match… The Sharks still had seven Boks in the team… maybe not current Boks but Boks none-the-less… and they didn’t become bad players overnight…
Well done Province!! But let’s not get all cocky and claim the Cup just yet… there’s a long way to go… but as the guys said above… with 15 of our front-line team not available, it does look promising for us when they all become available…
July 12th, 2009 at 9:37 am
1 game at a time……
July 12th, 2009 at 9:49 am
We are going to struggle this year and I dont believe the loss of so many Boks was the major contributer to our loss against the bloody WP!
In the first half we created nothing. I believe the ball passed through our backline all of 1 in 40 minutes. Sad, reminded me of how we lost the plot in the latter stages of the S14.
Keegan Danial shouldnt be a no 8. Vulindlu needs to start looking for more work on the park. Riaan Swanepoel doesnt seem to do much but defend well. Andries Strauss is a vodacom cup player and we have no hooker if John and Bissie arent around.
Gonna be a tough comp for us. Bring on the Kavaliers so we can gain some more confidence. Well done WP. I think losing Luke Watson is more detrimental than losing Schalk Burger. Luke is a very talented player with a big heart and has leadership skills to boot, the real deal
July 12th, 2009 at 9:53 am
#21 Ruggaluvva: the Namibian, Sharks, Southern Kings & Wallaby supporter: Luke is a huge blow……
July 12th, 2009 at 10:03 am
#22 grant10:
Many short-sighted bloggers fail to see that. Very good captain, I always respect province more when Luke is playing and captaining the side
July 12th, 2009 at 10:09 am
#23 Ruggaluvva: the Namibian, Sharks, Southern Kings & Wallaby supporter: yes….i agree….i hope he leaves in a blaze of glory having captured the C C ….
As i say , still a mountain to climb and 1 win is all yesterday was….WP must stay grounded and work hard …..at least we go to Loftus with hopes in our hearts …..and Jack will assist in instilling a hard edge to our pack….gonna be a thriller!
July 12th, 2009 at 10:27 am
#24 grant10:
Damn straight. I will be surprised if Province dont beat the Bulls next weekend. Chris Jack an excellent addition. We just lost Muller and its A van den Berg waiting in the wings, eish
July 12th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Helluva sad for the Sharks yesterday. Didn’t seem to have a plan at all. I know the kid is 19, but IMO you either shine or you don’t and there was nothing there at all. We need a General and Mr Pocket Rocket is a too individualistic to provide that. 10 in the Sharks is essential and we are lacking.
Maybe Hernandez’ price tag just went up after yesterday…
Our 2nd tier players IMO have always been soft, and it showed up yesterday. Not sure about the yellow but the outcome, sans bonus point? would have been the same IMO.
No urgency, except and always with Deysel in the loosies, backline flat, Odwa and Vundi need to work more esp Vundi… put your back into it kid. Tries on debut don’t earn you the right to sit on your hands for the rest of your career. Terblanche solid as ever. Somewhere between 3 and 4 years ago, Strauss was a hard, decent player, he’s lost it completely, no class no fair no heart. Vodacom Cup at best.
Very disappointed. Looking like the great kiwi import assistant coach has been more of a hinder than a blessing for the Sharks, if anything the backline looks flatter than ever.
Well done Province, Luke spoke well, credit to him for not being an uber dork.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Puff the Magic Dragon and Jackie Paper LOL ha ha ha. What were his parent thinking?
July 12th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
feit … as die Bulle en die Sharks verloor dan kla hulle oor die min Bokke in hul span …. as die bokke speel en hulle verloor dan is dit die ref. feit … as die bokke terug is, sal die Sharks die CC vat ..Bulle 2de, Shark sal nie hoef 4 driee te druk soos in die Super 14 nie. Repeat van 2008. Sharks wen CC … Die ranking sal anders wees : 1. Sharks, 2. Bulle, 3. WP, 4. Lions. 5. Griekwas. 6. Cheetahs. 7. Boland. 8 Leopards ….
July 12th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Where are all the people now that were writing WP off?
Of course, most of these people were WP supporters. Don’t you realize that this year they have an underrated team, instead of having an overrated team.
Frikkie Welsh is a case in point. He is still being criticised even though he made some useful tackles yesterday, one of which created a turnover. The management decided to buy a player which fits into their gameplan, instead of buying a glamorous player that doesn’t.
July 12th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Sharks can still field a decent 15 out there on the park.
Upfornt they got bullied by the WP pack,which should be their biggest concern.With all those Bok props they got shoved back multiple times.
Plus our kicking game was pathetic
Sharks XV (if Hernandez does indeed get here in next 2 weeks)
15.Terblanche
14.Vulindlu
13.Murray
12.Swanepoel
11.Ndungane
10.Hernandez
9.Kockott
8.Deysel
7.Downey
6.Daniel
5.Muller
4.Sykes
3.Du Plessis
2.Burden
1.Carstens
16.Cilliers
17.Badenhorst
18.Van der Berg
19.Botes
20.Cronje
21.Strauss
22.Nel
Weak bench but a more thsn XV
July 12th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
#30 mshiniwami: Locks are weak… no idea at 10, no control. Poor all around
July 12th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
excuses , excuses ….. Plumtree is a k@k coach net soos **** … sal wil sien wat ‘n ou soos robbie deans met so ‘n span maak … veral as bokke terug is … met die bokke, seker die beste span op papier in die wereld
July 12th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
#17 BlueBlood: BB you right Cheetahs have the least number of players in the bok squad but they alo the team with the most disruptions every year in that they cannot hold onto their players.
Watch and I bet that broussouw is a gonna next year. The cheetahs may lose the least amount of players for the bokke but thats simply because their players represent another Province.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it
July 13th, 2009 at 4:55 am
I am starting to see a pattern here. Plumtree is showing his true colours and just like all Kaaiwaais when they lose, look for excuses for being shite.
Do your job and coach or move along maait.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:18 am
#35 Predawn:
Unfortunately like he proved in the end at Wellingston… he’s a one trick pony playing 10 man rugby with your 9 an extra loose-forward…
It’s damaged Kockott’s career (well to those selectors that cannot see Plummo’s game-plan)… and it did Weepu’s in the same vein…
He’s a great forwards coach… Sharks need a better tactician at the helm whilst Plummo learns to evolve into a great coach…
July 13th, 2009 at 7:00 am
I rated Plumtree last year. Sounds like you’re right there MONEY_MAN.
Who the heck would coach the Sharks then?
July 13th, 2009 at 7:28 am
top 3 coaches in SA, my opinion.
2004
Jake
HM
DM
2005
Jake
HM
Rassie
2006
HM
Jake
Rassie
2007 1st half
HM
DM
Rassie
2007 2nd half
Jake
Eddie
…
99th AC
2008
Plumtree
PdV
Rassie
2009 up to the CC
PdV
Ludeke
Slapchips
10th Plumtree
50th Rassie
July 13th, 2009 at 7:41 am
#38 superBul:
2009
51st Naka!
July 13th, 2009 at 8:14 am
#4 St.Petersburgbok: Minus the following actually:
Beast, Bismark, John(our first choice front row), Kanko, Ruan, Frans, Adi, JPP, Waylon.
Now also Muller.
When the boks go on tour, we’ll also loose Deon or Jannie and Odwa again.
In recent times we also lost Barrit and Butch – neither of whom was replaced.
Depth is at its lowest ever and we need to reinvest in one or two names.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:25 am
#40 King Shark: Time to plunder and pillage from your favourite resource, no not the great Sharks Academy, but from Grey College or from the Free State Cheetahs!
July 13th, 2009 at 8:43 am
is plumtree blaming his flyhalve for the loss?
July 13th, 2009 at 9:45 am
#3 BlueBlood: Wow and the Bulls did oh So weeeeeeeeeeeell! beating a struggling Lions side, who have last most of their senior players under a new coach and management by 3 points. And lets not forget it was at Loftus! At least the Sharks last away to a full strength team who was playing extremely well! The Sharks have also last most of their players to the Boks since 2007!
I wish I could blame the ref, the Weather anything but I cannot, our depth is missing our game plan was the usual kik and lets wait for everyone to run at us. We had Yellow card Keegan starting (4th yellow he is COSTING us!) and WP were just damn good! Well done WP! and congratulations to their fans!