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, 11:15 am
@Heavens Game-195: lmao
153. Heavens Game said :
22 Jan 2013, 10:10 am
@ i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-147 : You forget the
Boks have had a “foreign” Coach before…
Ian Mac
ffs you said iam mac is a foreigner, not me!
22 Jan 2013, 11:16 am
@Transformation-194:
Do you think he is a good coach?
@Heavens Game-197:
Unfortunately never had the pleasure to ever meet him. But I did hear the one story about him.
It was in the lead up to the RWC, Kitch was Bok coach and there was a training session. A Bok rookie who was just making his way in the Bok team apparently addressed him as ‘Kitch’ when he asked him something.
In no uncertain terms Kitch made it very clear to this lad that he WILL address him as coach, or Mr. Kristie whenever he talks to him.
Of course the actual words Kitch used was apparently a lot more colourful to this young player and much to the amusement of many of the Transvaal players in the squad that knew the coach quite well.
22 Jan 2013, 11:17 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-199:
meyer has farkall charisma…
just a weak, insincere smile
22 Jan 2013, 11:17 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-199:
I would agree, but again it is just a personal observation which cannot even be an opinion as I have never experienced the environments first hand like players do.
22 Jan 2013, 11:18 am
@gunther-41: One would have thought so.
22 Jan 2013, 11:20 am
@Heavens Game-195: hey i don’t make the laws…
you like the fact that Plum goes to IRANZ often to crib from his keewee brethren on how to get his Sharks playing well?
the Kings have a kiwi Head coach & skills coach too, we tapping that IRANZ knowledge well too
22 Jan 2013, 11:21 am
@PissAnt-202: f.cuk NO!
Ludeke comes across to dim…
22 Jan 2013, 11:22 am
Meyer has about as much charisma as a toenail
22 Jan 2013, 11:23 am
@Transformation-201: Any Zimbo is a foreigner to you… Not so?
No matter how “naturalised”…
22 Jan 2013, 11:23 am
@Transformation-198:
agreed, Mourinho has it.
same with Ferguson.
having the undoubted respect and belief of your changeroom carries a lot of currency in coaching success it seems.
@Heavens Game-197:
i would absolutey say he possesed that aura though.
22 Jan 2013, 11:23 am
@Transformation-193:
I do feel that certain personalities are the right fit for certain organizations.
for example, in my proffession an “aptitude test” is a requirement before working in asia.
If you are the sort of leader/manager that will give a poorly performing employee/player a bollocking…..you will get no price in asia. In europe that is par for the course but in asia, the locals lose face,etc,etc…
22 Jan 2013, 11:24 am
@charo-203: but he can sure shout the moer of a walkie talkie.
22 Jan 2013, 11:26 am
@Heavens Game-209: ” Any Zimbo is a
foreigner to you?”
in your mind does Zimbo = Saffa?
22 Jan 2013, 11:28 am
@PissAnt-202: Kitch… soft spoken but inspired respect… Never was a mate to players, like D.ick Muir or even White to a certain extent… A healthy distance
Plum seems like that too…
Plum also seems honest and up front to the players… consistent. A big plus in engendering respect.
22 Jan 2013, 11:29 am
@Transformation-213: You chasing your own tail now…
Why dont you light it now my little fox… or jakkals (more appropriate for a Saffa)
22 Jan 2013, 11:29 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-180:
9. Groom
10. Elton
12. Grant
13. Jean/Juan
Looks pretty decent on paper
22 Jan 2013, 11:32 am
hmmmm…….seems like Durbs truly is the most welcoming and giving city when i read all these xenophobes whining about plums origins.
it must be said, the sharks played the most entertaining and skilful rugby at the end of last years comp, certainly of the saffa teams and possibly the top brand in the comp.
all the while the stormers “running rugby” style was a moribund and boring as watching paint dry.
its good being a shark
22 Jan 2013, 11:33 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-210: Aura? Except when he made that ill fated decision to go to the Bulls…
Their treatment of him was shameful to say the least…
So much for the “family” union, eh?
22 Jan 2013, 11:35 am
the list of players who have come to the sharks to play their rugby goes on and on.
from club rugby with jpr to cc winners like lacroix and freddy.
kiwis like plum and mex.
its an attitude that attractys them here, from all over.
whilst the close minded little “republic” on the end of the continent wants to know which school you went to, declarations of love for the mountain and all things capeyapey, hugs and kisses in the chageroom.
no thanks say the rugga buggers from all over the world
22 Jan 2013, 11:36 am
@The Rangerman-217:
Being the most entertaining and skillful team in the SA comp isn’t that difficult but yes they did string together 2 or 3 good games of running rugby at the end of the comp.
22 Jan 2013, 11:38 am
@The Rangerman-219: Excellent.
22 Jan 2013, 11:38 am
@Ranger: “skills”? the Cheetahs still r(h)ule SA in skills & entertainment…Willie le Roux is singlehandedly more exciting than the whole sharks backline.
22 Jan 2013, 11:39 am
@Te Rangatira-200:
i agree, TR
we need at least one or two consultants, barring any coaching changes (which will never happen).
basically the scriptures tell us that Heyneke will gradually press down enough on his coaching/support staff to meet the targets for success, and so it will come to pass that the staff will meet this expectation due to belief in his abiltiy, and fear of failure otherwise.
small touches will possibly include him lifting an Ozzie or a Kiwi out from a hole in the desert, having been left there to die, and this person will repay his faith and generosity by helping the boks just that one or two percent more needed for victory, salvation and everlasting life.
22 Jan 2013, 11:40 am
@charo-203:
Haven’t seen one of Meyers press conferences for a while…does he still slip in the sentence about being honoured to be selected as the Bok coach etc etc?
22 Jan 2013, 11:42 am
@charo-203:
that is just nonsense.
@PissAnt-204:
no arguments there.
@Dawn-208:
and you wonder why Tac doesn’t blog here anymore..?..
22 Jan 2013, 11:44 am
@Transformation-222: you wish pellie, the sharks rugby last season made the cheetahs look pedestrian by comparison.
more of the same please plum, you natal legend!
22 Jan 2013, 11:47 am
@The Rangerman-219:
The sooner us South Africans realise that High School is not the be all and end all of rugby greatness, the better. Rugby skills should be honed at school level and then fine-tuned at club level. This fanatism to perform and win at all costs at school level is kinda childish.
The Kiwis have the right attitude in this regard. Some rugby players only really start to find their mark as a potentially skilled rugby player at senior level. I wonder how many players have been overlooked by talent scouts at the clubs around the country.
22 Jan 2013, 11:48 am
@Predawn-227: marcel coetzee.
springbok.
unfancied school.
no craven week.
yster.
22 Jan 2013, 11:49 am
@Heavens Game-218:
that was a terrible business. what exactly happened there and was he really fired on his hospital bed?
shameful if true.
22 Jan 2013, 11:50 am
@NZINCHINA-220:
You seem to down play the SA Comp
guess what! most our stadiums were full and buzzing through out
unlike other comps where ive seen a bigger crowd on a week day at a rained out 5 day test.
22 Jan 2013, 11:52 am
funny thing, the cape mercenaries (stormers) are basically labour brokers.
the players they recruit have little or no loyalty.
witness guys like mujati, habana, jaque fourie, luke watson etc etc etc ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
they come and go like wekkers through a turnstile.
plum is still here, 20years on.
this favoured city, this tropical paradise with its warm sea and warmer heart just draws them in and never let them go.
22 Jan 2013, 11:54 am
Plum is a great forward thinking coach… It is time the Sharks win this damn thing!! Choked enough!! Come one Plum us long suffering fans need it!
22 Jan 2013, 11:56 am
@Ranger: 3 games (at best) and the Sharks are the most exciting team in SA? pliz.
22 Jan 2013, 11:58 am
@Rockn Rolla-230:
The SA comp has great crowds and fantastic local derbies, I prefer running skillful rugby which you don’t see a lot of in the SA conference to be fair.
22 Jan 2013, 12:00 pm
@NZINCHINA-234:
Yeah, and when you shout for your team you can hear that echo bouncing from stand to stand!!
22 Jan 2013, 12:00 pm
i could warm to this topic and mention freddy and his famous “sharks forever” line.
or say that butch is back, like stfan terblanche was, in the place that forever captured their hearts.
but it would be too much for some of our provincial cousins in the land of xenophobia and fear-of-darkest-africa land to handle.
oh ja, marinos and hoskins, natal boys through and through, rule rugby in sa.
natal ceased being an apartheid harvesting field when army and police could no longer be used by these nefarious forces.
no coincidence we witnessed the decline of the stormers from those years.
plum knows all this and smiles his kiwi smile as he plots yet another superrugby *** whuppin in 2013.
22 Jan 2013, 12:02 pm
@Rockn Rolla-235:
Sometimes that is the case but the rugby is much more entertaining
22 Jan 2013, 12:04 pm
@Transformation-233: huh?
3 games was it?
it seemed like so much more but nothing wrong with a little taste tester for you unbelievers.
not including a stormerasswhuppin in capetown-under-the-mountain-shwing-baby-yeah.
22 Jan 2013, 12:05 pm
@NZINCHINA-234:
And come on mate, ive seen dome pretty dour, grinding kiwi derbys in my time !!!
the worst are Ausie Derbys tho…..i would rather watch 2 bricks mateing!!
22 Jan 2013, 12:06 pm
@NZINCHINA-237: yes yes, you also have a blinkered mindset completely baffling for a man who lives in the most populaous country on the planet.
run run run.
go watch league and leave the love of all things rugby to the real spiritual guardians of the game, the country who dominated you for 100 years sunshine.
22 Jan 2013, 12:08 pm
@The Rangerman-236: ” natal ceased being an apartheid harvesting
field when army and police could no longer
be used by these nefarious forces.”
then natal started harvesting Free State & the Eastern Cape in return…for a school like Michaelhouse to have its FIRST EVER Bok in 2010 is indicative of how barren the province is…
22 Jan 2013, 12:09 pm
if anyone hadnt noticed, i have declared hostilities open again.
run you bunny b a st ar ds, the sharks are gonna get ya!
22 Jan 2013, 12:10 pm
@Transformation-241: like i said, we dont have your xenophobic mindset sonny.
we are a great big family here in durbs and accept refugees from the sh it hole you call a rugby union in PE quite gladly
22 Jan 2013, 12:10 pm
@The Rangerman-231:
Let me edit it for you:
“Funny thing, the players recruited by the stormers become loyal servants of the franchise.
the players they recruit have enormous loyalty.
witness guys like Vermeulen, Grant, Deon Fourie, Liebenbergh etc etc etc ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
they come and stay with no intention to go.
this favoured city, tourist heaven, unmatched natural beauty with clean white beaches, and warmer heart just draws them in and never let them go”
22 Jan 2013, 12:11 pm
@The Rangerman-240:
they have based so much of their game on ours in a way its funny but honour inspirring.
22 Jan 2013, 12:12 pm
@Transformation-241: and noticing the amount of argies and keewees you lot are importing it seems as though you are learning slowly
22 Jan 2013, 12:15 pm
@Robzim-244:
“clean white beaches, and warmer heart just draws them in and never let them go”
doesnt take much to have a heart warmer than your sea there eh robbo?
still, i think the stormers should be titled “the turnstiles” considering all the jumping ship that has happened there over the years (did anyone say lionel cronje, hoffman, sadie and pollard?)
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-245: yes but they have forgotten the long lean years from 1900 til 2003.
i must remind them.
22 Jan 2013, 12:15 pm
@Rockn Rolla-239:
No problem I’d rather watch our type of rugby and you yours, all good.
@The Rangerman-240:
I like this dominated word, you were up by a handful of tests and excluding 76′ where Gerty blatantly cheated it was about even, what word should we use to describe what we have done to you since 81′?
22 Jan 2013, 12:17 pm
@Robzim-244: also interesting to see “ad nauseum, ad infinitum” linked to a discussion of the stormers recruiting policies?
like i said, the dhl mercenary turnstiles.
22 Jan 2013, 12:18 pm
You have to stop living in the past Ranger, we own you end of story.
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