Plumtree doesn’t care how pretty it is, he just wants to win

John Plumtree has seen enough playoff rugby both as a player and a coach and with several teams in different parts of the world to know what matters most so he’s not putting any pressure on his Hollywoodbets Sharks players to be pretty or stylish against Munster.

All the Sharks coach is interested in going into Saturday night’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinal at Hollywoodbets Kings Park is to get the win that will either secure a home semifinal the following week against Edinburgh or an away trip to Loftus to face the Vodacom Bulls.

The Sharks have been widely criticised for not getting their attacking game working at optimum over the past few weeks, but the Sharks have won their games and that will be enough for Plumtree and his team if they do so again on Saturday regardless of aesthetic appeal.

“We just want to win. However we get across the line, if we win the game that is mission accomplished and that is what this game is all about,” said Plumtree on the eve of the Sharks’ first ever home URC playoff game.

“Yes, of course we want to create opportunities, and we want to be as accurate as possible. It has been wet in the last two home games and when you have a wet ball obviously skill sets will be compromised.

The two teams we played against didn’t score many points either, and when we lost to Leinster here (in similar conditions) before that it was also a very low scoring game, something like 10-7, with the defences dominating.

“If we get the territory we want, if we get the fast ball we want, then of course we will go all out to nail those moments, and there are other parts of the game we need to finish off.

But this is not a game where I am putting pressure on the players to go out and score tries and to play pretty rugby. This is a game where we want to just be on the winning side however that comes.”

Plumtree agreed that the players might quite enjoy getting to Loftus the following week if indeed that is what comes out of this weekend’s first round of the URC Finals Series, although that would bring different challenges.

“Yes, Loftus would be a great place to play at this time of the year, and it would be quite a different game, with more wide play and more passing and that would create its own challenge in terms of the type of game we’ve been forced to play as there would be more ball in play time than we are now used to.”

TEAM PREPARED TO ADJUST TO CONDITIONS


However, the immediate priority is winning on Saturday, and Plumtree admitted that he wasn’t quite sure whether the slightly earlier kick-off time (6:30pm as opposed to 7pm and 7:30pm in the previous two games) would deliver the same conditions that had the teams struggling to get out of first gear.

“What I have prepared the players for is to be ready to play in whatever conditions are presented and to adjust their game accordingly,” said the Sharks coach.

For the first time in a while the Sharks have a near fully fit squad, with 12 players who have started for the Boks in the run on team, something that Plumtree has been hoping for for a while without it quite materialising.

“I wouldn’t really say that it is by design that we have arrived at a situation where we have a nearly full strength team, it is just around fitness and availability,” he said.

“From quite a long way out we have been wanting continuity in selections, and to be fair we have had that in the last few weeks aside from a few disruptions. Lukhanyo (Am) was out for a bit, and Jordan (Hendrikse) was out for a bit, and Eben (Etzebeth) has had a few issues so it has been a little disjointed.

“But we haven’t let that bother us much. What we wanted to do was put pressure on Glasgow in the quest to finish third. We knew we couldn’t finish top but we wanted to finish third and that meant us putting together a good tour (against Edinburgh and Ulster) and then finishing well at home against the Welsh teams. We achieved that goal.

“It was not the prettiest rugby to watch but it was built around a lot of things that are crucial to playing winning footy and playing in the conditions we have been playing in.”

DISCIPLINE IS KEY

Plumtree added that one of the key things both teams would want to be on point with, and would have discussed in the buildup week is the need to keep the TMO and referee away from making big decisions that could impact the game and the result.

It is a concern as rugby is going through an era where cards have become frequent, often for the most apparently innocuous offences or, to put it more accurately, accidents.

He also has a huge regard for the challenge that Munster will mount even though they are playing far from their home ground in Limerick.

“I have massive respect for Munster and what they have achieved in the past (by winning knockout games away) and for some of the characters in their squad,” said the former Ireland and All Black assistant coach.

“They are a proud bunch and playing for Munster means a lot to them. It is also a farewell period for Peter O’Mohaney, Stephen Archer and for Conor Murray, who I know personally (after coaching in Ireland).

"That is the fuel that will drive Munster. But our focus is about us and playing at home and us wanting to progress. We want to play good, hard rugby in front of our fans.”