Experience key in Sharks’ challenge
1 Aug 2012
RYAN VREDE writes coach John Plumtree and the Sharks’ senior players’ experience is a plus going into a final where the odds are stacked against them.
I’ve written at length that travel fatigue will be their primary obstacle to success. The Sharks would have racked up around 35 000km in three weeks by kick-off. There has been plenty of rhetoric out of their camp rubbishing fatigue as a factor, but its affects cannot be discounted and is most likely to take hold in the final quarter.
However, they can take heart from the fact that they have a core of players who’ve been through the mincer and lived to tell the tale.
The haunting memory of their dramatic implosion in their previous final in 2007 against the Bulls will still be there. Frans Steyn’s missed conversion and subsequent fundamental errors (two missed touch finders the most notable of those) contributing to their 20-19 defeat. The Sharks have been to and won a major final since, capturing the Currie Cup in 2008, but the pressure associated with and desperation for the Super Rugby crown cannot be likened to that of the domestic showpiece. Neither can the pressure of the Tri-Nations or international tour compare to that of a Super Rugby final, where there is no shot at redemption the next week.
Ryan Kankowski, JP Pietersen, Bismarck du Plessis and Beast Mtawarira (all who’ll start for the Sharks on Saturday) were rookies in the team that lost five years ago. All were part of the 2009 Tri-Nations-winning squad, the last three key in the British & Irish Lions series win, while Du Plessis and Pietersen were central to the Springboks’ 2007 World Cup success. The lessons learned there and indeed through the disappointments they’ve suffered must come to the fore in Hamilton. And while Frederic Michalak, Jannie du Plessis, Willem Alberts and Keegan Daniel weren’t part of the squad for the 2007 final, the senior quartet also have a pivotal role to play in a side laden with players with little or no experience in matches of this nature.
Plumtree’s ability to instill belief and train the focus of his players, as well as formulate effective tactics, then adapt them to the match situation, will be decisive to the outcome. As the forwards coach he sat aside head coach Dick Muir in 2007 and would have learned from the latter’s mistakes, hooking key senior players being the most notable of those. Muir panicked, showing little appreciation for the match situation and the value of Percy Montgomery and John Smit in that setting. Plumtree is better a coach than Muir in all facets, particularly in his clarity of thought under pressure. This bodes well for his team.
With the fatigue factor becoming most prominent in the closing stages of the match (as it did at Newlands last weekend) it is imperative that the Sharks target the first 50-60 minutes of the contest. Taking a 10-12 point lead into the final quarter (14 would be ideal but unlikely) would put them in a strong position. From there the impact players can inject defensive punch, while those not substituted would be galvanised by the prospect of holding on for just 20 minutes with the Super Rugby crown the ultimate incentive for them to do so. The Chiefs have shown their propensity to veer from their plans under pressure (note that they have few players who’ll be familiar with the level of pressure this final will bring) and this would aid the Sharks’ cause to break their Super Rugby drought.
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15 Comments
1 Aug 2012, 13:49 pm
“There has been plenty of rhetoric out of the their camp rubbishing fatigue as a factor, but it’s affects cannot be discounted and is most likely to take hold in the final quarter. ”
so Ryan Dragon – you list one of the obvious excuses if they get beaten by 20+ points?? Has anyone thought that Cheifs could put away these bananboys by a big margin??
1 Aug 2012, 13:50 pm
Shark attack in Perth on tuesday, Shark attack in adelaide yesterday….
Making its way to NZ!!!!
Go Sharks even though my blood is blue!!!
1 Aug 2012, 14:02 pm
Yappies by 4
1 Aug 2012, 14:02 pm
@greatest13gerber-1:
Why do we all have to be defeatists like you?
Chiefs didn’t win by much in the beginning of the competition.
1 Aug 2012, 14:15 pm
So far I have not read any article talking about the mental pressure the Chiefs will be under. The major of Hamilton is already planning a massive victory party for them and the whole media is adamant that given all the travel the Sharks had to endure, that the Chiefs will beat the Sharks by a big margin and easily. I think this can be almost a greater barrier for them to over come than the Shark’s barrier of the travel fatigue.
1 Aug 2012, 14:17 pm
@greatest13gerber-1:
They could. Anythings possible.
The last time they played was the week after the Sharks had flown back from a 5 week tour to Australasia and they won by 4 points i think.
1 Aug 2012, 14:17 pm
Fishy boyz must win
HM is counting on you
1 Aug 2012, 14:21 pm
@Sharks fans are genuine Bok supporters-4:
realist.
Cheifs could most likely bring their A game.
1 Aug 2012, 14:24 pm
The turnaround doesn’t leave the Sharks players much time to visit the duckpond.
1 Aug 2012, 14:55 pm
Its going to be a epic battle!!! I think if the sharks come though and win this it will be up there with the greatest Championships. I think the adrenaline of the final will get them through and the way that they’ve been playing will help them. Its 80 mins left and its going to be massive battle!!!! Come On Sharks !!
2 Aug 2012, 02:59 am
We will only know after the 1st 20mins and if the bok players are bothered to seek something they dont have in the trophy cabinet. The Sharks are a team that play according to what the stars dictate, unfortunately!
2 Aug 2012, 07:16 am
@patch-10: Sharks’s bench will pull them through.
2 Aug 2012, 08:53 am
Long haul flights are the best for rest and recuperation. No interruptions, no external demands, just hours and hours to read, sleep and recharge your batteries. The Chiefs should fly to Singapore and back to get the team as rested as the Sharks.
2 Aug 2012, 12:20 pm
I am grateful to RV for pointing out the huge liability that Frans Steyn can be.
His talents are far outweighed by his errors.
He is a Percy on steroids and yet they want this Jonah in the team!
But at least he can’t play this time, so maybe there is hope.
And don’t forget the part Steve Walsh played there! Has he collected his white stick yet?
And does Bosman have his walking ring this time?
2 Aug 2012, 17:21 pm
This Sharks team is something special. They can win.
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