While the Vodacom United Rugby Championship competition takes a break for the end of year internationals, the Hollywoodbets Sharks can reflect on a successful fortnight that heralded 10 log points.
“It’s great to have two wins at home, and to have such a good crowd here supporting us made it a bonus,” said head coach John Plumtree after his team had defeated the Irish giants 41-24.
“There was always a plan to get some log points on the table before the break after a pretty tough tour, so I’m really pleased for the boys, it was a really good effort.”
In a game where Munster coach Graham Rowntree admitted that his team were “Certainly chasing our tails” after the Hollywoodbets Sharks raced into a 14-0 lead within the opening five minutes, his counterpart admitted that the early successes laid the script for the success that came their way.
“We started really well, that gave the boys some confidence and I thought we played some really nice rugby,” Plumtree said.
“We were dominant up front and that laid the platform for the backs. We weren’t perfect, we made some mistakes but the intensity that we played at is the standard we want to set.”
Conceding tries at the end to allow Munster to leave Durban with a bonus point wasn’t the outcome they wanted, but was testament to the fighting character the visitors showed.
“It’s not ideal, we didn’t want to concede tries at the end, but to their credit, Munster are ruthless when they’re a few metres from the tryline and so hard to stop. Their pick-and-go game, done properly, is tough to halt.
“What concerns me more is conceding a penalty that let them kick to touch, that’s part of the problem.”
Having selected Springbok captain Siya Kolisi at eighthman was a minor gamble, but it worked a treat. Will he remain there in the future?
“It’s hard to say,” Plumtree admitted. “I’ll have a chat with him, see if he enjoyed it, but he looked good. I also thought Phepsi Buthelezi, when he came on, was excellent too, so there’s nice competition in that loose trio which is great.”
Reflecting on how different it is in 2024 compared to a year ago, Plumtree is excited about how things have panned out.
“It’s such a different playing field, last year there was a new coach, new coaching team, different squad and so many variables that were different compared to this year. We had a lot of injuries to our main players coming back from the Rugby World Cup, it took a long time before we could select our strongest team.
“At least in round four this year we were picking our strongest team which shows you, this tournament is so tough and the competition so tough because the teams are so good, we have to have our strongest team available so we can do well.”
When the Springbok tour is over, the URC will return and already Plumtree has one eye on what is to come.
“They’ll come back from a round of three test matches and we have a tough game against the DHL Stormers at home, so the challenges just keep coming. And we have Springbok rest protocols as well, so there is a lot to deal with here at this club.
“Yes, I want to win every time, but the reality is that we aren’t going to have a full strength side all the time.”
