VIDEO: 'It's madness' - Plumtree puts spotlight on SA teams' travel issues
SPOTLIGHT: John Plumtree says there is an “uneven playing field” for the South African franchises in the United Rugby Championship and European competitions.
The 57-year-old shared his views on the travel factor with South African media after he was unveiled as the Sharks’ head coach ahead of the 2023/2024 season.
The amount of travelling the SA franchises must do in a season has become a major talking point and coaches have raised these issues on several occasions.
Teams are currently travelling to the United Kingdom two or three times in a URC season and things get complicated when you add Champions Cup and Challenge Cup fixtures as well.
Plumtree believes the South Africans are doing more travelling now than when they were in Super Rugby.
“They [travelling issues] are good discussions to have and it is definitely not an even playing field when you have seen the amount of travelling the boys had to do,” said Plumtree via a video conference from Wellington.
“Going via places like Doha, it seems like madness.
“I think they would have done a lot less travelling if they stayed in Super Rugby, but they made the decision to go up there and good on them.
“There are certainly going to be some challenges.
“It is pretty tough for the boys travelling all the way up there, especially when I hear the commentators talking about them going in at the back of the plane, which is not fun for big boys like that.”
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Having coached around the world, Plumtree believes he can help the Sharks with some of the challenges they are facing with their travels.
“We certainly have to be more adaptable around how we play the game and also negotiating travel and what the week does with that travel.
“I think that is where my experience can really help out now because I am used to being in that type of environment where teams have to adjust their weeks according to their travel and the wear and tear with the group.
“That’s a part that excites me. I love having to think about a short turnaround or a full week or whatever it looks like and managing a team to be able to win in the UK and come back to South Africa and win in South Africa. That’s a real feat.
“I have noticed the Sharks seem to be doing a lot of travelling. I think it was the Stormers who were doing the most.
“You can see the South African sides are doing more travelling than the other teams.
“I suppose it is based around the fact that there are more teams in the UK, but it does make it tougher with all that travel and I have seen how that has affected the Sharks, especially in the last six to seven weeks.
“It hasn’t been easy for him. They are all hurdles that need to be negotiated.”
With the amount of talent in the Sharks’ squad, they have failed to meet expectations this season and Plumtree believes the travel factor has played a big role.
“There has been a fair bit of talk around the talent they’ve got and the results that they have had. But there are a couple of things that haven’t been easy for that team in terms of the travel,” said the New Zealander.
“You might say the other teams had to do it as well, but not the UK-based teams. There are challenges for the South African sides.
Plumtree added: “I don’t want to get too much into game plans and stuff like that, but the one thing I will say is that we will play a style of rugby that suits the Sharks and nobody else.
“We won’t be trying to play a Hurricanes game or Springbok game.
“We will be playing a game that suits us. Hopefully, we won’t be talking about this thing in a year’s time. Hopefully, we will be talking about a talented squad and living up to their potential. That is my focus.”
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