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, 10:07 am
@Te Rangatira-142:
tough one to answer. Both good coaches who promote direct rugby.
Probably find they have very similar approaches, ideas and manmanagement skills.
22 Jan 2013, 10:09 am
@Te Rangatira-130:
just saying, TR.
we dont do trickery and deceit over here
we look truth straight in the eye, and we stare it down.
@nortierd-131:
i dunno Nortie, their overall provincial/franchise success leave me a little sceptical, that’s all.
anyway, i really dont think SA is anywhere close to ready for a foreign coach.
@Hurricane-132:
62 was schoolboys only, Hurri
in total we test far more than that but of course we are a bigger pool too.
22 Jan 2013, 10:10 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-147: You forget the Boks have had a “foreign” Coach before…
Ian Mac
22 Jan 2013, 10:13 am
A fair sprinkling of people imputing treachery to the mans character.
Dont like it.
Trans right
Take out SA citizenship.
22 Jan 2013, 10:13 am
Anyway….all this news of the stormers,sharks and spears…..hell, even the Lions who aren’t even playing superrugby.
Is there any news on the Bulls and cheetahs?
Seemingly forgotten but both sides,should they get their best 1-15 on the park with best bench blends will both be formidable sides as well.
22 Jan 2013, 10:14 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-138:
well said, and agreed.
@Brigadier Van Zyl-140:
hehehe
thats not polite
22 Jan 2013, 10:16 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-151:
Well Sir, not tough for me….Plum by a country mile…too bad I don’t want to see a Kiwi as Bok coach only in an advisory role.
22 Jan 2013, 10:17 am
@Heavens Game-153:
hehehe
i’d hardly call Zim foreign
besides, wasn’t he coaching from the 70′s already?
22 Jan 2013, 10:18 am
i’m pretty sure Mitchell and Plums personalities wont work together.
22 Jan 2013, 10:18 am
@Heavens Game-153: is Ian Mac not a naturalised saffa yet?
22 Jan 2013, 10:20 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-152:
Great attitude…. so many home truths to give the evil eye to.
22 Jan 2013, 10:25 am
@Te Rangatira-157:
Meyer is know to be a huge admirer of Vince Lombardi.
To quote a quote… ” The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.”
this is how I see meyer and his approach to coaching.
I see Plum being more technical.
22 Jan 2013, 10:28 am
Where is the ATTACK COACH?
Saru establishes high performance
coaching unit
16:38 (GMT+2), Fri, 18 January 2013
Saru has announced the establishment of
a high performance unit of top rugby
coaches.
the South African Rugby Union has
announced the establishment of a high
performance unit of top rugby coaches to
assist elite South African teams at all age
levels. Saru says the initiative will see a
contracted team of specialist coaches visit
franchises, national and schools teams and
share their rugby knowledge.The so-called
HP Mobi-Unit is the brainchild of Saru’s
High Performance general manager, Rassie
Erasmus.
Former French international prop Pieter de
Villiers will concentrate on scrumming, while
former Bok flyhalf Louis Koen will be
responsible for the tactics and practice of
kicking play. Former Stormers loose
forward Chean Roux will focus on technical
analysis, with Stormers defensive coach
Jacques Nienaber advising on defensive
play.
22 Jan 2013, 10:30 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-162:
wow!
you’re blowing me away here, Brig.
@Te Rangatira-161:
hehe
i think you are being a little liberal with the word ‘many’ there, TR
but agreed, we do right by ourselves and by others over here in the republic.
22 Jan 2013, 10:31 am
on another note….
how long before Bekker hands in his first sicknote of the season and everyone blames Coetzee?
And Devilliers has been without injury for a while has he not? Possibly the longest stretch of his career? he’ll have a whole stash of notes ready to go by now?
22 Jan 2013, 10:31 am
I really like Plum, and I think he has an amazing rugby brain. But for some reason I cannot shake the feeling that he is very similar to Rassie Erasmus – communicating his vision confidently and assertively to his players and even the media.
He is also the nicest guy you can hope to meet, and one of the most honest coaches when assessing his team and the game (never shy to say they were kak). But he is also the most softly spoken coach I have ever heard.
It is just a personal view, but for my money the most successful coaches in history are ones that cast a huge shadow and commands natural respect when they speak. Guys with a sort of aura around them.
The ability to communicate anything to players and even support staff effectively is sometimes more important than the actual knowledge of the game or what you are saying.
I have been saying for a very long time that I believe Plum is one of the best rugby coaches around, but not really the guy that should be a head coach which in today’s age is actually nothing more than a project co-ordinator and spokesperson (manager).
Rassie found his calling eventually as a DOR (the guy doing the graft behind the scenes) – I believe Plum’s role and value is something very similar.
22 Jan 2013, 10:32 am
Hindsight I know but Plumtree should have got the Bok job. Meyer was 4 years too late and played some serious coaching catchup last year. Was horrible to watch
22 Jan 2013, 10:32 am
Oh, and how many times will dejong pass the ball this season.
I’m sticking with 6 times from 15 games.
22 Jan 2013, 10:32 am
Sorry first paragraph should read NOT communicating his vision confidently and assertively to his players and even the media.
22 Jan 2013, 10:35 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-168: I would play Grant at 12, would also be nice backup for F Steyn
22 Jan 2013, 10:36 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-164:
hehe….yep….somewhat cheeky that line….must come and see for myself and forget about going to Vegas.
@Brigadier Van Zyl-162:
Thanks for that quote from the Great man….we here in Nz have believed that of the Bok whoever the coach maybe.
22 Jan 2013, 10:38 am
It all comes down to SA rugby becoming truly professional…
Investing in coaching doesnt seem to be a high priority, considering that ex players still get appointed far to easily without much experience and credentials. The game has been a professional sport for far to long for this trend to go on. Would a NFL player become a head coach after a few years after retirement? Nope. Structures, striving for the highest standards are the laws of the land in a professional sport like the NFL.
Why not start from there. Become truly professional. Rectify the lack of intellectual capital, dont encourage it.
•Get foreign coaches to help out in the areas SA sides arent up to scratch, eg. skills/attacking/backline play. From school level up to the boks. Get the basic standards of coaching to the highest level, even if help from nz/aus is needed.
•Empower a young coach with the best coaching knowledge via educational structures before and while he starts building experience.
•Research the best skills training and adapt them into the structures, keep evolving to stay on top.
•Ex bok coaches could be used to attend to this high standard and help young coaches develop.
•Use SA’s past strengths to make it a national standard: A guy like Matfield could help SA coaches to enable SA teams to become the world leaders lineout play.
Bickering over who should coach the boks is a waste of time. Id rather complain about the lack of quality coaches in SA and ask why. Especially when the time comes to appoint the national coach.
Unfortunately SARU isn’t quite professional.
IMO
22 Jan 2013, 10:38 am
@PissAnt-166:
I agree, the best coaches are probably also the best communicators. The ones who can implement their vision and ideas the best. Hell, the ones that can even transfer their ambitions the best.
22 Jan 2013, 10:39 am
@PissAnt-169:
All the Kiwis I know..and Aussies for that matter, are quietly spoken. Look at the studio guests on Re-Union..they barely jump out of monotone through the entire program. It’s their nature.
South Africans are very loud by comparison. It’s our nature.
22 Jan 2013, 10:41 am
@Transformation-163:
BRAVO SARU, perhaps things are starting to happen! Jip skills/attacking coach??? Why isnt that a BIG priority?!
22 Jan 2013, 10:41 am
@PissAnt-166: ” the most successful coaches in history are
ones that cast a huge shadow and
commands natural respect when they
speak. Guys with a sort of aura around
them.”
SA’s MOST SUCCESFUL super rugby coach is Frans Ludeke, does he fit your descriiption?
22 Jan 2013, 10:42 am
@PissAnt-166:
in two words; ‘leadership ability’.
22 Jan 2013, 10:42 am
@Predawn-174:
Apart from Pat Lam who cries a lot, I found the Kiwi’s quite assertive actually. Henry is anything but quiet and soft spoke.
Also interesting… Some of the best coaches comes from a teaching background…
22 Jan 2013, 10:44 am
@Te Rangatira-171:
hahaha this place is Vegas.
22 Jan 2013, 10:46 am
@Bok fan-170:
If the Stormers play Grant at 10 or 12…I would be very surprised to see the stormers win anything.
I would class Grant as a decent 10 and not much more than that. The Bulls won in 2007 with a decent Hougaard, but had the genius of dupreez inside him and the superrugby form 12 outside him.
who do the stormers have, duvenhage at 9 and devilliers/dejong at 12?
Good luck with that.
22 Jan 2013, 10:46 am
@Te Rangatira-171:
Sorry Brig….we here in Nz have always believed that the Bok have always had the will….
22 Jan 2013, 10:48 am
@Transformation-176:
actually, he might not say much on the telly that is insightful but I wouldn’t want to be on his shitlist in the changing room.
22 Jan 2013, 10:48 am
@Transformation-176:
Frans mumbles his way through everything. And no, I don’t regard him as a successful coach but good luck if you think he is playing a numbers game.
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-177:
You get different type of leaders I guess. Plum is well respected by all, almost that type of player you often hear ‘leads by example’ and in his case would be work ethic and just his general professional approach.
Like I said, I think one of the best rugby brains I have ever heard personally when he talks about the game but he will never go down as the best communicator ever.
Someone mentioned above Plum and Mitch will never go well together, but I actually think they will compliment each other very well…
22 Jan 2013, 10:49 am
its a moot discussion anyway because Meyer will be in the job for the next four years and if his results were good enough (which i believe they will be) and he wanted it, who’s to say he wouldn’t be reappointed?
22 Jan 2013, 10:54 am
@PissAnt-166:
plum might talk softly…
but he carries a big stick.
i watched the sharks warm up before a game.
plum was with the backs while the forwards did line-out drills twenty metres away.
the forwards were joking a bit amongst themselves.
as plum walked towards them, they suddenly shut up and became serious.
22 Jan 2013, 10:55 am
@PissAnt-178:
Look at Jake White. Still a good coach too…but anything but boring when he talks. His presence demands your attention.
I suspect John Plumtree is a lot different at training than in front of the cameras. Perhaps he doesn’t like the attention of the media.
22 Jan 2013, 10:56 am
@PissAnt-183:
another from vince Lombardi…”“They call it coaching but it is teaching. You do not just tell them…you show them the reasons.”
22 Jan 2013, 10:58 am
@Predawn-186:
Could perhaps be the case and I might be completely off the mark – but does he know his **** when it comes to rugby? Bet your *** he does.
22 Jan 2013, 10:58 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-184:
Seems you have already forgotten his first year…..another year like his first, then your heading into….Judge me at the World Cup territory.
22 Jan 2013, 10:58 am
@PissAnt-183:
yes, i suppose what i mean is the type of leadership ability which is almost unquestioningly authoritative in a sense (you just know that what this person is telling you is right, and you do it) and for the most part come across as a natural fit to the person in questions character and personality.
an innate knowing and confidence which resonates with others.
at least this is what i think you’re trying to convey, i mean.
that ‘aura’ you allude to.
Kitch had this in bucketloads and Madiba even more.
22 Jan 2013, 11:01 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-190:
Spot on.
22 Jan 2013, 11:04 am
@Te Rangatira-189:
hehe
no TR, i really believe Meyer and the boks willl improve markedly on last year.
expect no less than a home win againt Oz, NZ and with some luck/effort perhpas more.
22 Jan 2013, 11:04 am
hhmm so frans mumbles but okes don’t want to be on his shitlist…
the ENIGMA that is Frans Ludekak.
22 Jan 2013, 11:07 am
@PissAnt-183: surely the Blue Bulls company think Frans is successful.
22 Jan 2013, 11:07 am
@Transformation-160: Everyone is makwerekwere to the likes of you, eh Megatron…
- too foreign
- too european
- too somalian
- too congolese
- too white
- too dark
- too “Iranz”
or just too farken competent… Yes?
22 Jan 2013, 11:10 am
What’s this aura business
22 Jan 2013, 11:10 am
@PissAnt-166: Kitch Christie was a soft spoken coach…
22 Jan 2013, 11:12 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-190: jose mourinho, phil jackson.
22 Jan 2013, 11:14 am
@PissAnt-191:
yes, so basically, as good a coach as Plum may be, without this ‘auratic charisma’ he is no better than Rassie and others and probably best suited to serve the boks in the backrooms/from the sides..?..
unless he learnt to develop it in time.
i would say Meyer has this charisma, perhaps not as much as Kitch or Madiba but it is there.
22 Jan 2013, 11:14 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-192:
To achieve that Houston, Meyer needs to make some big calls surrounding his coaching staff….get rid of the yes men and bring in the new blood that is needed to take them to another level otherwise I can see stagnation.
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