There probably hasn’t been a team visiting Hollywoodbets Kings Park this season that Sharks coach John Plumtree knows better than his opponents in Saturday’s final Vodacom United Rugby Championship league game.
Plumtree’s son Taine, a Welsh international who although born in Swansea spent most of his formative years in KZN before finishing his schooling in Wellington, plays for Scarlets - and as an interested father coach John has watched virtually every game that the Welsh regional team have played.
And knowing what to expect has given him a healthy respect for a team that he regards as very dangerous ahead of Saturday night’s encounter.
“Obviously with Taine playing for them I watch the Scarlets a lot and I have been doing that for a long time now so I am very familiar with their game,” said Plumtree on the eve of the match.
“I have watched them this whole season and they are one team in the URC that I would say has improved in every area of their game. They have got better as the season has gone on and I am not surprised that they are where they are at the moment (sixth on the log).
"They have had a lot of consistency around their selection.
“They maybe don’t have quite the same squad depth as some other teams but they’ve been very good this season around injuries. They have a lot of X-factor and they are playing with confidence.
"Their set-piece is functioning really well too and they have beaten the Lions and the Ospreys, as well as Leinster, which was a team we couldn’t beat. So they are a real genuine threat.”
RUGBY HAS BEEN SUBJECT FATHER AND SON HAVE AVOIDED
Plumtree said he has spent a lot of time with Taine this week and his wife Lara is also out from New Zealand, which has enabled son and mother to see each other for the first time in eight months. But while there’s been a lot of conversation, Plumtree senior says the subject of rugby has been avoided.
“It was really weird when I coached against Taine for the first time when we played them last year and the media over in Wales made quite a big thing of it, but we got through that so there hasn’t been the same level of strangeness this time,” he said.
“Obviously we haven’t focused much on Taine in team meetings, the players seem to be quite respectful about that. I’d like Taine to get through the match safely and for him to do well on a personal level but this is obviously one game I don’t want his team to win.”
He added that Plumtree junior would be particularly excited about playing at Kings Park, where he spent many hours watching rugby and also kicking the ball around the outer-fields during his father’s first stint as Sharks coach.
‘He grew up supporting the Sharks at Kings Park so this is a very special game for him,” said Plumtree.
PLEASED EBEN’S INJURY WASN’T SERIOUS
The Sharks coach was speaking after announcing a team that was unchanged at the back but featured four changes at forward, with Siya Kolisi resting, James Venter out with injury, Ox Nche back from illness and lock Emile van Heerden back from injury.
“It is nice to have some continuity but it would have been nicer if Grant (Williams) and Lukhanyo (Am) could have been considered. Unfortunately they are both still injured but they will both be good to go for the quarterfinal,” he said.
“James has not recovered from a neck injury sustained against the Ospreys. We thought he would be able to make it for this game but unfortunately on Wednesday it became apparent he was losing that battle. Siya is resting as per the Bok resting protocols. It is a big relief that Eben Etzebeth’s injury from last week against the Ospreys was not serious.
“While it is disappointing James misses out I am excited about seeing Tino (Masevere) playing again at No 6. Nick Hatton has also impressed us a lot this season and he will be the looseforward that comes off the bench to provide impact.”
THIRD PLACE HAS BEEN THE GOAL FOR A WHILE NOW
Plumtree put the record straight when it came to the Sharks’ objective in this game. While there is a perception among some that there is no difference between finishing third or fourth, Plumtree said that his team has had the aim of putting Glasgow’s third position under pressure since before the overseas tour last month.
“One part of this game is that we want to get it right ahead of the quarterfinal, but another part is that we wanted to keep putting pressure on Glasgow for third spot. We do want that third spot, so it is important to us that we get the win. We want to get that job done this week and finish third.
"Obviously I would also like to see us play well ahead of the quarterfinal.
“We haven’t dazzled anyone yet, but we had to play a certain type of rugby for the conditions overseas and the conditions last week didn’t help us either as the wet ball surprised us.
"We had to play a different kind of game as the ball was not coming out of the hands like we would have wanted it to. We’ve got to win the territory battle and attack from there.
“We are aware that our skill sets need improving and have to get better, but on the positive side we have shown that we never give up and if you want to be a championship winning team you’ve got to have that.
"We know we can live in that space (tight games) and that gives us confidence going into knockout rugby but we’ve also got to have respect for the opposition you play. Neither the team we play on Saturday nor the team we play in the quarterfinal are bad teams.”