Shocking Sharks don’t surprise Plum
27 Jan 2010
John Plumtree says a poor performance wasn’t unexpected in the Sharks’ hit-out with the Force.
The Sharks used all 27 players in their group, apart from Adi Jacobs who was withdrawn from the bench. Aside from some individuals, the group as a whole lacked cohesion. In the aftermath, Plumtree said he wasn’t surprised with their showing as he believes this was typical of early season hit-outs.
‘We didn’t do much,’ Plumtree said with a shake of the head. ‘We were inaccurate at most things, but at least we blew a few cobwebs out the system.
‘To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from our perspective. We had quite a few injuries during the pre-season, which affected our teamwork. We also brought our Springboks back late into training, which also didn’t help, so were nervous about quite a few areas before hand.
‘Historically our first match of the year is against a smaller union in Witbank or Brakpan, and you don’t get as exposed as we did [on this occasion].’
Plumtree acknowledged the Force outplayed them in most areas. The Force forwards bullied the Sharks at times, but Plumtree expects his highly-rated heavies to improve ahead of their match against the Stormers on Friday.
‘They were a lot better than us in a few areas. We were under-committed at the breakdown. You can only guarantee quick ball when you have numbers, and we were light at the contact points. They showed us counter-rucking is still a major aspect of the game.
‘Our lineout also didn’t function. We had six or seven times to launch from, but the throws went awry. The scrum to a lesser extent also struggled, and without a platform, we had a lot of tackling to do.’
There were more questions than answers for the Sharks, but Plumtree praised two of their recruits from the Lions, Willem Alberts and Gerhard Mostert, ‘who did some pretty good things after a year or so out’.
Force mentor John Mitchell was understandably pleased. He had witnessed his second-stringers handed a hiding from the Stormers, but the areas he had asked them to work on, they did.
‘We wanted to improve our physical methods and habits,’ said Mitchell, ‘and that’s what we got out of it. The boys responded quickly in that area. We don’t usually get hard football like this back home so early in the year, so this was great for us.’
Captain Nathan Sharpe was also complimentary of debutant Andre Pretorius.
‘He’s a fantastic footballer in his own right. He brought composure and organisation, and his style suits us perfectly.’
By Grant Ball, at Newlands
113 Comments
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27 Jan 2010, 12:29 pm
Seems to me some bloggers on Keo is stuck in dieselfde ou rympie. Oor en oor en oor en oor en oor dieselfde k@k wat uit hul keyboards kom.
Farking imbeciles.
27 Jan 2010, 12:52 pm
Plums is 100% correct, these ‘pre-season’ matches (look carefully, ladies, the clue is staring back at you) are nothing more than a full-contact training session. This is about fitness, hardening some bodies, giving all squad members a run for team unity.
Nothing else.
Zip.
Nada.
Of course, if you are Kobus Kitty you could take the mega-leap to hyperspace and predict boldly after WP put some points on someone else (Force ? – sense when is anyone measured against an Aussie team ?!)…..then Kobus will tell you
“Bulls vs Stormers S14 Final”
Perhaps RedLion has another prediction ?
Surely noone else here will fall so easily in to that trap, as nb’ed by Puma @ #4. Because everyone knows that atleast 1 of the Finalists in 2010 will be the
MIGHTY H I G H L A N D E R S !
27 Jan 2010, 12:52 pm
then make like a road and fork off !!
27 Jan 2010, 12:54 pm
@justrugby:
comment 103 was for that educated gentleman Karoolander !!
27 Jan 2010, 13:01 pm
@Black Panther:
While it is all those things you alude to ,its more than just that BP, it’s about getting confindince prior to going into the real thing, it’s about getting combinations right, it’s about team spirit , it is about sending signals to other sides……..
The Sharks last night achieved none of these, Plum can spin doctor as much as he wants, he needs to make some huge calls in the next 2 weeks, they have time to salvage !!!
27 Jan 2010, 13:01 pm
@Black Panther: True what team will really wanna reveal their game plan and backline moves just yet!
27 Jan 2010, 13:04 pm
Beginning of the end for Plum
@grant10:
Mitchell made sure he showed him up yesterday and Force always been Sharks bogey side since competition debut.
Doesnt hurt that Mitchell will be looking for a new job come end of S14…very interested in Sharks job
All those calling for John’s head are a bit premature.Even at tighthead,he scrummed adequately in last ur’s S14 bar vs Robinson/Tahs game at Absa Park.The like of Crockett(Saders),Steenkamp(Bulls),Sherperdson(Brumbies),Blaauw/Moller(Stormers),Whopper(Otago),Schwalger(Canes),May(Chiefs),Henderson(Force),Du Preez(Cheetahs),Takiati/Moore????(Reds)-those will hardly destroy Smit.Thats about 75-80% of the competition looseheads he can lay a decent/good platform against.Good enough in my books.
Only Robinson(Tahs),Heinke-if fully fit(Lions),Woodcock-if fully fit but doesnt look like the players he was-(Blues) can cause Smit to struggle upfront. Thats 3 out of 13 lineups.Good enough.
If he reverts back to hooker,the DuPlessis conundrum with be inflamed even further with the Sharks with more to lose than to gain if that transition is made.Losing the world’s best hooker(Bismarck) isnt an option.But neither is losing the world’s best leader(Smit) and Shark stalwart.(Jannie Dup is kak,Cilliers-good prospect only 23)
Look at the numbers above.Sharks have to continue.
Secondly
The argument for Botes/Daniel is a moot one.Deysel effect more turnovers than those 2 combined in last yrs competition through either convention turnover or counterrucking.Botes and Daniel dont even slow down the ball with any reasonable success.They are classic tearaway flanks of yesteryr,run great support lines,seal up ball on attack,high workrate etc but effecting turnovers.They arent much better than Deysel if none.Majority of turnover effected by pack and most in particular Bismarck.
Sharks best XV
1.Beast
2.Biz
3.Smit(c)
4.Mostert
5.Sykes
6.Deysel
7.Alberts
8.Kanko
9.Kockott
10.Pienaar
11.JP
12.Adi
13.Murray-(run straight big fella!!!)
14.Ndungane
15.Ludik
27 Jan 2010, 13:09 pm
@justrugby: @105
I believe all that was covered under ‘team unity’…
But we agree that it is most certainly NOT a strong indicator of how the season goes once it starts. Which it hasnt.
@Gonzo Journalism:
Exactly. These games are also designed to give certain players key technical points to work on, there wont be any ‘moves’ on other than the standard ones.
27 Jan 2010, 13:12 pm
@mshiniwami: we will need to agree to disagree…..Deysel as a fetcher flank….smit at 3…
No way ….not in a 100 years….
As for Bissy…thats the problem with SA rugby…never prepared to make the touh calls….
But its you Sharks problem …not mine…
Although its sad to witness what again last nite was so glaringly obvious…
Nic Henderson pushing smit back …at a rapid pace of knots!
27 Jan 2010, 14:53 pm
@mshiniwami: +1
With all the rubbish that gets posted on here, we can always count on you to give a balanced view of things.
Excellent summation.
27 Jan 2010, 16:30 pm
@Puma: Hey man its bit of a joke how we get written off by supporters of SA teams who finished below us on the log last year. In 2008 we finished 4 th and last year it was 5th missing out on the semi by just 1 point. Where were the Stormers or the Lions? Nowhere. And no other team in SA are capable of creating such epic showdowns when the Sharks play the Bulls. I have to say this animosity towards the Sharks makes me sick as I bear no ill feeling towards the other SA franchises and I will always support them against foreign teams while these one-eyed nutjobs will be supporting the rival Kiwi or Aussie team. Its about time all this provincial hatred stopped and supporters got behind SA franchises as a whole.
27 Jan 2010, 16:34 pm
@Black Panther: Yeh I saw that too – Stormers / Bulls final after one warm-up game against a tentative 2nd string side probably paranoid about getting injured before the S14 starts and all of a sudden its in the bag…and we get accussed of being arrogant? Yeh riiiiiiiight!
27 Jan 2010, 16:37 pm
Plum says Sharks were exposed..???…yah,for being unprepared…
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