Plumtree: 'It is not about me'
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: John Cyril Plumtree performed a delicate balancing act in Durban this week.
The Hurricanes coach will return to the venue he called ‘home’ for many years, when the Sharks host the New Zealand visitors in a Round 16 encounter on Saturday.
Since Plumtree was appointed as Hurricanes assistant coach in 2015, he has faced the Sharks four times – winning three of those encounters.
His only loss was 15-32 in his only previous visit to Durban with the Hurricanes, in 2016.
This year he took over as head coach of the Wellington-based franchise and he returns in this elevated position to his old stomping ground.
Plumtree played down his ‘reunion’ with the Sharks, a team he coached between 2008 and 2012.
“It is not about me, it is about them [the players],” he told this website in an interview this week.
“I have just been working my way through the week,” he said, adding: “Being back in Durban, I have been catching up with friends and family.”
He said it was all about getting the balance right between preparing the team and doing all those social visits.
“It was about making sure I don’t lean too heavily one way or another.
“It has been great.
“I am looking forward to going back to Kings Park with a rugby team.
“It, Kings Park, has been a big part of my life.
“The last time I visited it [the Durban stadium] it wasn’t a great outcome,” he said of that 2016 loss.
“It would be great to go there again with a different outcome.”
- Continue reading below the video …
Plumtree, 53, was born in Hawera, Taranaki.
He played flank and represented Taranaki in the NPC 40 times, debuting in 1985. He played All Black trials in 1989.
He relocated to Durban, home of his South African wife, and represented the Sharks in 80 games – helping them win their first Currie Cup title in 1990.
In 1994 and 1995 Plumtree represented South Africa’s national Sevens team in two Hong Kong tournaments.
After retiring as a player, Plumtree coached Swansea in Wales for five seasons, winning the Welsh Cup 1999), the Welsh League (1998) and the Welsh-Scottish League (2001).
Plumtree then returned to New Zealand, where he coached the Wellington Lions in the NPC – reaching the play-offs in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
Plumtree returned to South Africa in 2007, after he failed to win a spot as a Super Rugby franchise coach in New Zealand.
He was assistant to Dick Muir in 2007, when the Sharks were Super Rugby runners-up to the Bulls.
In his five years as Sharks head coach, they reached the play-offs three more times, finishing as runners-up in 2012.
In 2008 he also coached the Sharks to their first Currie Cup win since 1996, for which he was named the 2008 Coach of the Year. The Durban outfit repeated their Currie Cup triumph in 2010.
In 2013 he became forwards coach for the Ireland national team and in 2015 Plumtree became the assistant coach of the Hurricanes.
By Jan de Koning
@king365ed
@rugby365com
* Don’t miss this week’s podcast …
