A heart of green and gold
22 Jan 2013
John Plumtree remains adamant that for him when it comes to rugby, South Africa is No 1, writes MARK KEOHANE in Business Day Sport Monthly.
John Plumtree’s wife is South African. His son is South African. His team of choice, as a player and coach, the Sharks, is South African. Often, Plumtree is referenced as the Sharks’ New Zealand-born coach, but he sees it differently. When it comes to rugby he’s more South African than Kiwi. In fact, he’s more Shark than anything else.
Plumtree has aspirations to coach the Springboks, as is the case with any South African coach. He identifies with South African rugby more than any other and while there will always be a proud Kiwi in Plumtree, when it comes to rugby the identification is very South African.
The jersey Plumtree prides most is a Springbok Sevens jersey, earned in 1994 when representing South Africa at the Hong Kong Sevens.
‘I reckon I must have been the first Kiwi to wear the green and gold,’ he jokes. ‘It was a surreal moment in the change room; a very special moment. A very strong Springbok Sevens team went to Hong Kong in 1994. Andre Joubert, Henry Honiball and Joost van der Westhuizen were among the stars of that team and I felt proud to be considered good enough for the squad,’ says Plumtree.
‘I grew up a Kiwi kid with dreams of playing for the All Blacks against the Springboks and here I was wearing the Springbok jersey and I felt massive pride in playing for South Africa. They were New Zealand’s traditional foe and they were the team that commanded the most respect among the older folk.
‘The greatest challenge for an All Blacks player was to beat the Springboks in South Africa and I grew up with a sense of wonder and awe at the men in green and gold. They had a mystique for me. As a young rugby player I always wanted to play in South Africa; I got the chance in 1988 and ended up staying for nearly 10 years before returning to the Sharks to coach in 2006.’
South Africa is home to Plumtree and has been for some time. Professionally, his coaching may still take him to Europe or New Zealand, but in an ideal world home is Durban, South Africa and work is in South Africa.
‘The country has given me a family, a home and a wonderful lifestyle. It has given me opportunity. South Africa has been very good to me and I’d like to think I’ve embraced the country and given as much as I can to it. I’ve been in South Africa for the best part of 20 years and love being here,’ says Plumtree.
‘My coaching took me to Wales, where you could say I did my apprenticeship with Swansea as a young coach and furthered that with four years as Wellington coach in New Zealand. But for the rest it’s all been here in Durban, as a player and as a coach. I’ve never felt I had to choose between New Zealand and South Africa; if anything I consider myself fortunate to have experience of both because of the strong rugby connection. I have enormous respect for the rugby in New Zealand and an equal feeling for the game in this country.’
Plumtree has worked with some of New Zealand’s and South Africa’s best players and says the similarities make the rivalry so intense.
‘Both have an appetite for physicality and for playing a direct game. Both want to be the best in the world and have the work ethic that goes with it. If there was a difference I’d say there’s more pressure in South Africa at schoolboy level to win because of the rivalry between the major rugby playing schools, whereas in New Zealand there is a greater focus at schoolboy level on playing good rugby. The pressure here would be to win at all costs; there the pressure would be in the skills evolution of a player at schools level.
‘Professionally, though, there isn’t much to choose and that is why there seldom is much in matches at Super Rugby and Test levels. There has been the odd blowout from the Boks and from a South African and Kiwi Super Rugby side, but generally, as a Kiwi side, you have to play bloody well to win in this country, and the same is true of any South African team wanting to win in New Zealand.’
Plumtree played 80 matches for the Sharks between 1988 and 1997, having played 40 provincial games in New Zealand prior to that, which culminated in selection for All Blacks trials in 1989. His best rugby memories are playing for the Sharks and winning two Currie Cup medals and he takes pride in the achievement of winning the Currie Cup as a player and as a coach.
‘I was part of the 1996 squad as a player and in my first season as head coach in 2008 we won the cup again for the first time since 1996. To say I have won the Currie Cup as a player and a coach is a big thing for me because it also shows just how long I have been here and it is a competition that means a hell of a lot to me. I understand the history of the competition and I know what it meant to win it as a player at the Sharks. So I will never treat it as secondary.
‘There’s Super Rugby, which we want to win and there’s the Currie Cup, which we want to win. Both have equal status. One is the premier international tournament we play in and the other is the premier domestic competition. We had a chance to complete a rare double in 2012 in winning both and fell at the last hurdle. It hurts because we got so close to something really special, but the motivation has to be that it is possible to succeed in both tournaments and the group of players this year is more experienced, more mature and equipped to certainly be successful.’
The defeat in the Currie Cup final against Western Province rankles Plumtree more than the away defeat against the Chiefs in Super Rugby because it was a final he believed his team was good enough to win.
‘It is the one area we simply have to correct as a squad. When we are looking down the barrel we somehow find an escape and a way to win but when the hard work has been done and the expectation is there that we should win we have stumbled. Western Province played very well to win the final but home finals are occasions you have to make count. We had done all the hard work, benefited from consistency in getting a home semi-final and final and then to stumble … well you pick an adjective …’
Consistency is something Plumtree feels the Sharks have lacked in Super Rugby and to win the tournament he believes a team has to start well and end well.
‘The Crusaders and Bulls in their best years showed this consistency. They won enough to get the home semi and home final and while it is a huge advantage playing at home in the final it is also reward for a consistent season,’ says Plumtree. ‘I know we were up against it last year in having to travel to Australia, back to South Africa and then to Hamilton in New Zealand in 10 days but had we started the tournament better, it would have been another team doing the travelling to Durban.
‘It is the nature of the competition and it’s a competition I love being a part of. It tests everything about you as a player and as a coach. It tests the depth of your squad, the mental resolve and it also tests the ability of the coaching staff to manage the playing demands of the squad. I personally love the tournament and I enjoyed the expanded version in 2012.’
Plumtree favours the June break when internationals are played and says a tournament as long as Super Rugby needs a break.
‘I guess the key is not to have too many international players away on Test duty because we saw how a team like the Crusaders struggled post the June internationals. They were just hitting a peak before the All Blacks’ three Tests against the Irish and their players, who were superb at times against Ireland, just never hit the same heights in the remainder of the tournament.
‘The Sharks, by contrast, benefited from the break. We had a chance to reassess, get our injured players back on the park and we also had the benefit of a bye in the first week after the break. I found our players were refreshed and our Springboks gained a lot from that one-week bye. We went on a roll, so it works both ways. As a coaching team we learned a lot from last year, in terms of managing the squad and maximising game time for the entire squad.’
Plumtree, six days after the Sharks’ Super Rugby final defeat in Hamilton, started the Currie Cup campaign against Western Province in Cape Town, and he made 14 changes to the side beaten by the Chiefs.
‘The travel and playing demands forced those changes and we won in Cape Town, which shows you what is possible. I think having so many players away on international duty has allowed us to develop talent at Currie Cup level, which may not have been the case if all our players were available every weekend. It is why the Currie Cup for me will always have prestige, as a tournament, and as a showcase of the next generation of star players in South Africa.’
Plumtree has an expectation of his squad, but won’t differentiate between the need to win and develop quality players and improve the quality of those already in the system.
‘It can’t be one at the expense of the other. The nature of the sport is you have to win but you can develop and win at the same time if your identification is right. I have been so impressed with what Gary Kirsten has done with the Proteas. He has taken risks, always spoken of a bigger picture, be it an ODI World Cup, a T20 series or a Test series. You know what he wants to achieve and he hasn’t been afraid to introduce youngsters at the same time.
‘He has a clear plan, which has been well communicated, but he has also been very clear about the priority in results, which was to win the Test series in England and Australia … which they did. In the interim he has introduced a virtually new T20 side and made many adjustments to the ODI side. I think South African rugby, at national and provincial and regional levels, can learn a lot from what Gary has done with the Proteas cricket side.’
Plumtree, this season, wants a closer working relationship with the national coaches and with whoever can add to the success of the Sharks.
‘I don’t think we share enough in South Africa. I think we can learn from each other, at franchise level, and at national level and we definitely can learn from other codes,’ says Plumtree. ‘A lot of rugby people look to New Zealand but the system is completely different, especially the way in which the NZRU contracts the Super Rugby players and the working relationship that exists between the national coaches and the franchise coaches. You could only take from New Zealand if Saru was contracting the players. They aren’t.
‘There’s a lot right with rugby in South Africa and we have the luxury of so much natural talent. I’d say we need to invest more in the intellectual capital that there is on a coaching front in this country, encourage our players to have a go and take risks without fear of being dropped. We certainly also need to talk more, among ourselves in rugby and to those in other codes, to make South African rugby an entity that can consistently be as strong as New Zealand, and hopefully even stronger.’
– This article first appeared in Business Day Sport Monthly, which is distributed FREE with Business Day newspaper on the second Friday of each month.
720 Comments
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22 Jan 2013, 15:45 pm
@Dawn-448:
Nee my liefling.
22 Jan 2013, 15:46 pm
@Britney Spies-444:
@Britney Spies-447:
hehehe…
well let’s hope you hang around permanently…
22 Jan 2013, 15:47 pm
@Dawn-440:
nothing
he was shafted by NZ rugby and it didnt work out for them.
it was a point made in response to China’s advice.
22 Jan 2013, 15:47 pm
@ufo-452:
I’m trying to make friends for a change. I hope I succeed this time around.
22 Jan 2013, 15:48 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-450:
“if anything this year should give us certain clarity on the flyhalf order going forward.”
absolutely…
no excuses or places to hide… all four have it all to do for themselves…
a very good situation…
22 Jan 2013, 15:48 pm
@the curse-442:
thats not possible
we’ve barely started
22 Jan 2013, 15:49 pm
farking smilies
22 Jan 2013, 15:50 pm
@the curse-445:
dont be an idiot
australias stats are putrid.
22 Jan 2013, 15:51 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-450: Best option I saw Lambie take was CC 2010… Hand off to Schalk Burger followed by rapid placing of ball over tryline under the uprights…
A schweeter option I have rarely seen…
22 Jan 2013, 15:51 pm
@Britney Spies-454:
reckon you already have bud.. not that there was anything wrong before… great to have another perspective… keo does get boring with so many stormers fans making up the numbers…
22 Jan 2013, 15:52 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-458: over the last twenty years they have provided more anxious moments for us kiwi fans then your bokke have
sad but true mate..
I too long for the days the Bokke actually lived up to their billing, and even I now question some of the old timers assertions that SA are our greatest foe..
it pains me to say it Bakkies, but the history books dont lie
22 Jan 2013, 15:53 pm
@Dawn-448:
dont be silly
Tac would never stoop to multinic’ing.
22 Jan 2013, 15:53 pm
Vok it’s Pietman
22 Jan 2013, 15:54 pm
12 Feb 2009
SHARKS WILL FLY SA FLAG
The Sharks, on balance, are an outstanding
side and John Plumtree commands respect
as a coach because his actions say much
more than his words. Some coaches talk a
great game, while Plumtree is from the
school that prefers others to do the talking
based on achievement of the team.
I’ve never liked the Sharks because I’ve
never liked Durban and Durban has never
liked me. There is no mountain and there is
no loyalty from their rugby supporters
when times are tough. You only have to do
a check on crowd attendance in a poor
season and compare it to when the Sharks
are competing for a home semi-final. At
least down in Mountain Goat country 35
000 still come out whether the Stormers are
playing for the wooden spoon or missing
out on a semi-final by points differential.
But because I don’t like the Sharks doesn’t
mean I’m not picking them to be the best of
the South African sides. Of course they are
but to win the competition they have to be
hosting a semi-final. Can they do it? To
quote someone familiar with the
Durbanites, there’s the lovely line of Bob
the Builder … ‘Yes we can!’
In assessing the prospects of the Lions and
Cheetahs I just did a copy and paste from
every year’s preview. ‘NO CHANCE’.
The Bulls will be more competitive with
Victor Matfield back running the show, but
they are top six – more than top two –
material.
South Africa’s chances are helped by the
fact that this must be the weakest squads
picked by New Zealand in the history of the
tournament. Some of their players are just
KAK and in the glory days of Super 12
wouldn’t even have made the Supporters’
XV of the Blues and Crusaders.
22 Jan 2013, 15:54 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-462:
Ne!
22 Jan 2013, 15:54 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-462:
Oooooooooooooo
You calling me silly?
Me?????
Trying to get some of your own back for sticking your boot in your mouth?
22 Jan 2013, 15:55 pm
I remember Pietman and Dawn engaging in a bit of cyber love back in the days.
22 Jan 2013, 15:55 pm
@Dawn-463:
Only a guest appearance skattie. Die wind sal my uitwaai.
22 Jan 2013, 15:55 pm
@ufo-455:
yip
as the lyrics go; ‘the heat is on!’
22 Jan 2013, 15:56 pm
@Heavens Game-459: Even you have to concede that this season is Lambie’s ‘make or break’ in terms of being taken seriously as a Bok starter. Much time was wasted in this young man’s career.
Personally, I think he’s always going to be in the shadow of The Goosen – happy to be wrong.
Keen to see what he dishes up. Also depends who starts at 9 for you lot.
Ok, decent post of the day over.
22 Jan 2013, 15:56 pm
seriously, are the bookies involved in the cricket?
we couldnt score 70-2 in two test match innings, ‘suddenly we have “found form”
dodgy!!!
22 Jan 2013, 15:57 pm
@ufo-460:
Indeed, not to mention BOOM BANG A RANG
22 Jan 2013, 15:57 pm
@Heavens Game-459:
hehehe
he played a blinder that day, HG
the point is he’ll need to turn at national and super level game in and game out like that.
22 Jan 2013, 15:59 pm
A hint Dawn.
You are the wind beneath my wings.
22 Jan 2013, 15:59 pm
@wnbb-467:
Really
You couldn’t read then, you cant read now
22 Jan 2013, 16:00 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-470: Yes, I agree… I have stated it too.
Noddy badge for you, yeah?
22 Jan 2013, 16:00 pm
@Dawn-475:
Has Ruck returned?
22 Jan 2013, 16:02 pm
@Britney Spies-477:
I can’t communicate with anyone who has Britney in their nic
22 Jan 2013, 16:02 pm
@Heavens Game-459: @i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-473: He was still relatively green at the highest level. And that counted in his favour.
Younger players nowadays tend to perform better in big matches, proving that experience is really overrated.
The tables have turned.
The older players are more desperate to taste trophy success than the younger ones, and are the ones that fold under pressure in the modern game.
WP won a CC without Burger and De Villiers. Ironic, isn’t it.
22 Jan 2013, 16:03 pm
@Dawn-478:
You still play so hard to get. Ek lyk dit!
22 Jan 2013, 16:03 pm
@Heavens Game-476: No. I would prefer an Obama badge.
22 Jan 2013, 16:03 pm
I give Burger two games and he be out for the rest of the year
22 Jan 2013, 16:04 pm
@Dawn-478: Rather Brit than Biebs.
22 Jan 2013, 16:04 pm
@Britney Spies-472:
@Britney Spies-474:
that clue was slap bang in the middle…!
22 Jan 2013, 16:05 pm
52 runs of 7 overs?
say it isnt so..
22 Jan 2013, 16:06 pm
@the curse-461:
i have to go Pops
its getting late and i still have loads of work to do.
we’ll have to continue our ‘search for the truth’ some othe time
cheers
@Britney Spies-465:
hehehe
ja, beslis
@Dawn-466:
oh come on, sweetie
we’re practically in a relationship now
———
back later
22 Jan 2013, 16:07 pm
have to hit the road…
cheers all…
a great evening to everyone…
go proteas…!
22 Jan 2013, 16:07 pm
Lambie is a serial flop.He flopped at ten as well as 15 last season.Meyer Bosman,at ten,might be a better bet for the Sharks this season.
22 Jan 2013, 16:09 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-486: cheers bakkies, will check in the morning for your replay analysis of the first half of the cricket
looking forward to your bullet form of NZ infringements
22 Jan 2013, 16:10 pm
@the curse-485:
FUNKYTOWN!
22 Jan 2013, 16:10 pm
@the curse-489:
OK
He’s gone
22 Jan 2013, 16:10 pm
@willievz-479:
yes, he certainly announced himself in that game and i must admit i expect a lot from him because of it.
that certainly was an enjoyable match all round too.
—-
out for a bit
cheers
22 Jan 2013, 16:11 pm
@Britney Spies-480: Stop teasing , prawny,Ash.
22 Jan 2013, 16:11 pm
@gunther-490:
wont you take me to
22 Jan 2013, 16:11 pm
@the curse-485: Hi Pops – I haven’t been on today so I apologise if you’ve had to answer this before during the day: How are you doing ? We’ve been missing you !! Is your arm getting better ?
22 Jan 2013, 16:11 pm
Good article……interesting read.
22 Jan 2013, 16:11 pm
@the curse-461: The Boks have to work on consistency in terms of results. I still believe the Boks ‘should’ be the Kiwis toughest opposition, based on what we coud and should be producing, but aren’t for a number of reasons……
Mental mind shift + coaching tweaks + + + + + + + + a few other things….. and consistent results might follow.
Then and only then will the Boks challenge the AB’s in the way they should.
But for now, the Boks aren’t even the bridesmaids…..and haven’t been for a long time.
22 Jan 2013, 16:13 pm
He’s back
22 Jan 2013, 16:13 pm
Gotta make a move to a town
That’s right for me
Town to keep me movin’
Keep me groovin’ with some energy
Well, I talk about it, talk about it
Talk about it, talk about it
22 Jan 2013, 16:14 pm
@the curse-499:
Lower Hutt?
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