Plumtree praises Ox and Jenkins for keeping it calm

He was part of the Natal team that won the Currie Cup for the first time in that union’s history in 1990 so it is easy to understand the emotion that was quite visible in the demeanour of Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree following his team’s win at the weekend.

The Sharks held on to beat the Vodacom Bulls 20-17 in a tightly contested Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby in front of a boisterous 34 000 crowd at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.

Although it was the expected result, the Sharks had had to dig deep due to key players being absent and then three withdrawals on the eve of the match, including Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.

Plumtree, who was interviewed in the post-match television interview by fellow 1990 winner Joel Stransky, spoke about how pleased he was to see the love for rugby and the Sharks flowing through the Durban faithful after so many bleak years.

“We want to bring the love back to Durban with our rugby, the support tonight was incredible, and I am incredibly proud of the team,” said Plumtree.

While the result seemed to surprise the commentators, Plumtree did bring a different perspective when he said his team still had some experienced players to lean on. And he singled out Springbok loosehead prop Ox Nche for a special mention.

“We were struggling up front. Ox’s experience came through strongly and he brought a lot of calmness,” said the Sharks coach.

“Lock Jason Jenkins was equally impressive, and Manny Tshituka (Emmanuel) was simply outstanding,” he added.

DEEP DEPTH

The Sharks do have the money to go deep with their depth, and the second two players mentioned by Plumtree were both new acquisitions procured in the off-season. Tshituka is a more than capable stand-in for his brother Vincent when, like now, he is injured, while Jenkins, who has one Bok cap to his name, is growing in confidence and stature with each game.

Jordan Hendrikse, who was another star for the Sharks, was also an off-season buy, so apart from the win being another example of the culture that Plumtree has been instilling at the Durban franchise coming through, it was also a triumph for astute recruitment, which is something else that has changed in Sharks country just recently.

The hard fought win over the Bulls was an important moment for the Sharks in the sense that they have now won three games in a row against historical top contender in the URC - reigning champions Glasgow Warriors, 2023 champions Munster, the inaugural champions the DHL Stormers and now the two time losing finalists.

That sequence has confirmed the Sharks as URC challengers after their disastrous 2023/2024 campaign that left them needing to qualify for the Investec Champions Cup by winning the EPCR Challenge Cup. All those big wins have been at home, however, so they will be viewing this weekend’s trip to Cape Town to play the Stormers as a new frontier to cross.

“It is going to be a big game and hopefully there will be a lot of Sharks people in Cape Town celebrating the festive season who will come out to support us,” said Plumtree.

“We had a disrupted week and had challenges to overcome so that made this win special. We will also have a disrupted week this week because of Christmas but then so will the Stormers.”

BREATHING SPACE

Their four consecutive wins have given the Sharks some breathing space and, in the words uttered last week by Andre Esterhuizen, who ended up leading the Sharks against the Bulls, turning Kings Park into a fortress makes the wins achieved in away games feel like a bit of a bonus. 

Certainly it is the Stormers, who still have more defeats on their record than wins this season despite their good win over the Lions, who will be under most pressure in the return coastal derby.

Plumtree also has some thinking to do - the 11 January game against Toulouse has become a massive one for the Sharks’ quest for Champions Cup silverware so he may have to err on the side of caution when making selections for the DHL Stadium games.

The Sharks have Champions Cup ambitions and their loss to Leicester Tigers last week means they have to beat Toulouse to be sure of an advance to the play-off rounds, so more injuries picked up in a tough derby is the last thing the Sharks need right now.