Sharks big guns need their A-game
Sharks coach John Plumtree knows that although his side have the advantage of playing at home with their Boks back in the mix, they will still have to be on top of their game in their Currie Cup semifinal against the Cheetahs.
The defending champions have been boosted by the return of their Springbok stars, but Plumtree is adamant that his side will be taking nothing for granted against a team that have caused their fair share of headaches for the Sharks over the years.
“This is a home game for us, we need to play really well to beat this Cheetahs side, it’s not a given if we just turn up, the players understand that because of the history between the two teams, but it’s really exciting,” he said.
The last time the two teams met the Cheetahs put together a scintillating attacking display to come away with a convincing 53-32 victory in Bloemfontein, so how does Plumtree feel about facing the team that have scored the most tries in the competition this season?
“We’ve conceded the least number of tries of all the teams, we back our D [defence],” he responded.
“They scored a few against us in Bloem, so we understand that they are very excited about attack, with some outstanding attacking players, it can’t just be about our defence that we bring to the party.
“It is a huge focus in terms of going through, but we want to attack well, we want our set-piece to function, we want our kicking game to function, it’s about getting all the areas good and not one area great and others poor.
“We have to perform well in all areas if we want to go through to the Currie Cup Final,” added the Sharks boss.
The Kiwi mentor explained that previous results this season will not have too much bearing in this all-or-nothing knock-out clash, and pointed to his side’s two titles in the last three years as proof of their pedigree.
“The loss in Bloem is not relevant because it’s all in the past. We’re looking forward to this challenge, the pool stages are over we know exactly what we need to do.
“We have a proud history in this competition over the last four years, want to be there to contest the Final this year. We’re keen to be the first team to win this thing back-to-back since the Natal side of 1995-96.
“We know we can if we play well enough. The players are very excited about the opportunity. We need to focus on what we need to do to get there,” he said.
Plumtree is hopeful that he will have a fully fit squad to choose from for the semifinal, with some of the players suffering from niggles coming through nicely at training on Tuesday.
“I believe Adi [Jacobs] ran nicely at training after a hamstring strain last week, Lwazi [Mvovo] also looked good at training. Jean Deysel hasn’t trained this week, we’re hoping to see him on Thursday. Alistair Hargreaves ran yesterday, hopefully by Thursday we will have a full squad to pick from,” he said.
The Sharks boss was particularly happy with the performance of speedy No.8 Ryan Kankowski against the Lions last week, and explained that his broken thumb had given the tearaway loose forward a chance to work on his fitness.
“It was good to see Ryan coming into the form he can show, he had a really nice conditioning period after he broke his thumb, certainly in that form, he’s an unbelievable player.
“He put a lot of onus on on himself to come back and have a big game, if he can maintain that kind of form through the remainder of the tournament, it will be great for us,” added Plumtree.
