Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach John Plumtree admitted that his big name Springboks were crucial in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship victory over Glasgow Warriors at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday.
Their contribution was immense in the way his team took on the visitors, in a week that hardly lent itself to the perfect prep for such a big game.
“It was a bit of a nerve-racking week only having our first training session on Wednesday, the second one on Thursday and we were a little bit rusty, but we tried to pull them together as quickly as possible,” Plumtree admitted after the match.
“And at the same time, we tried to give some players that were on tour a bit of a break, so it was all about getting the balance right in a niggly week.
“Playing a side like Glasgow who compete in every area of the game was always going to be a tough contest. I thought parts of our game where we were getting momentum, we were starting to click and looked really good. But there were times when we looked a bit rusty.”
It wasn’t so much the contribution from the Bok players on the day, but the aura they bring and what they does for everyone else.
“It’s good for the younger players to be rubbing shoulders with the Springboks, Jurenzo Julius with Lukhanyo Am, there are lots of examples of that. And that’s the bonus of having those experienced players who help the younger players around them grow quickly and they learn from them. They also get more confidence being around them as well.”
In a game where coming out on the right side of the result was vital, Plumtree lamented conceding the two late tries.
“Absolutely, we’ll have to have a look at that, we were a bit naïve to allow them to run back at us, we just weren’t good enough. We’ll definitely make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Getting the balance right is a common theme and the Hollywoodbets Sharks coach admitted that building confidence in the team – both with and without their Springboks -was one of the big motivations.
“The tough thing with the URC is that we always start it touring and I don’t get to play a full-strength side because the Springboks are away on the Rugby Championship. We were four games deep into the competition before I was able to play a full-strength team and that’s not ideal.
“Ideally as we go through the season, we need a balance of having some Springboks available.”
Plumtree had a few words of praise for Player of the Match Aphelele Fassi, but extended that into his international team-mates.
“I thought he was great, and it’s always a challenge for these players to come back and play for their clubs. It was pleasing to see how he has elevated his rankings. But I also thought Eben Etzebeth was right up there, Fassi was great, Makazole Mapimpi was great, Ox got stuck in, so do Bongi and Siya had his moments; it’s hard to single out anyone.
“There were good performances from the Boks and good on them.”
