Sharks expect an uphill battle
Sharks coach John Plumtree believes that his team’s recent thrashing of the Lions will be irrelevant when they attempt to become the first team in six years to win the Currie Cup Final away from home this weekend.
The Lions have benefited this year from the lack of Springboks in their set-up, which has translated into valuable continuity in the Currie Cup – a luxury that most of the other big unions have not enjoyed.
Their dominance meant that they had top spot sewn up before their final match in the league phase of the competition and could afford to rest most of their best players who had played week-in and week-out during the Currie Cup.
The defending champion Sharks welcomed back a host of Springboks in that game and proceeded to hand out a 53-9 drubbing which many saw as a massive psychological blow just before the play-offs.
However, Plumtree is adamant that the thrashing of that understrength Lions outfit in Durban will have no bearing on how the final plays out in Johannesburg this weekend.
He said: “They have been playing well with that group all year. They were able to lighten up against us when they played here recently, that performance meant nothing. I’m sure they’ve forgotten about that game, we have.
“This year we’ve had a lot of challenges which the Lions haven’t. The challenge for us is that we have to gel as a team right from the first whistle, that’s something we’ve talked about. They have that in place already and that will be the challenge for us,” added the Sharks boss.
Plumtree compared the continuity the Lions have enjoyed this season to his team’s successful run on the way to glory last year, indicating that the home side will go into the contest on Saturday as favourites.
“When we won the trophy last year, we were lucky enough to have the same team from start to finish over the course of the tournament, apart from one or two guys coming back in, we had a cohesive unit.
“We have to play very well to win this, the collective want goes up a fair few notches when it comes to finals time. The Lions will be more ferocious and so will we and that’s what finals rugby is all about, being able to cope with the pressure and sustaining it. This group will have a real go, they are looking forward to it,” he explained.
The last time a team won the Currie Cup Final playing away from home was when the Cheetahs snatched victory at Loftus Versveld in 2005, and Plumtree is all too aware that his side will have to put together a high quality preformance if they are to successfully defend their title this weekend.
He said: “I don’t think the trophy has been won away from home for a fair amount of time, so to win the Currie Cup away from home is a real challenge, one we’re really looking forward to.
“We’ll have some nice support up there but it’s their home ground, they’ve been the form team all tournament and it will be a tough match for us,” added the Kiwi mentor.
Plumtree has whisked his team off to Sun City in a bid to get them focused on the task at hand and used to the thin air up on the highveld.
“It’s about getting some training done in the highveld, getting acclimatised and getting nice and tight, we haven’t been together as group much and I’m looking forward to this,” he said.
The Sharks boss admitted that having his band of Springboks back in the mix has improved their prospects, but warned that they would have to gel with the team from the first whistle this weekend – unlike their semifinal which saw them stutter through the first half before playing more like a team and winning the game in the second forty minutes.
He said: “We always had an eye on what was happing to the Springboks at the World Cup, exiting at quarterfinal time allowed us to play them a bit earlier than we thought we might. It’s great having them back, they have great attitudes, they want to retain this trophy, they’re totally committed.
“On the weekend, we didn’t gel right from the start, but we saw a change particularly after half-time, what we saw after half-time is what needs to happen from the first minute in the final.
“In 2007 we had the same challenges, a World Cup year is difficult when coaching a big union.
“We saw what happened to Western Province, they couldn’t gel quick enough and were beaten by a better team on the day in their semi and if we hadn’t come right quickly, it could have happened to us,” he explained.
