It was only a year ago that the Sharks were in exactly the same position as the Stormers are now – two-zip down and no breathing space in sight – and Sharks coach John Plumtree acknowledges that this year the Sharks have a more favourable draw.
The Sharks have eight games in South Africa in which to build momentum before their first tour game on April 27, against the Chiefs.
“I was pleased with a draw that has us having home games to start off with,” said coach John Plumtree.
“In the past we’ve travelled early, so I was pleased with the opportunity to do it the other way around.
“When you look at your draw, there might be times when you target five or six wins when you know you have to really go for it.”
Plumtree is talking about a stretch of games that starts this weekend in Port Elizabeth against the Kings and then sees the Sharks host the Brumbies, Rebels and Crusaders on consecutive weekends before their pre-tour games against the Stormers in Cape Town on April 13 and the Cheetahs in Durban on April 20.
“We have to start building that ‘winning away from home’ attitude,” Plumtree said.
“I know a lot of Kiwi teams don’t worry about where they play, they just go out there and focus on what they need to do.”
Plumtree said that the Sharks planned to have a number of players back by the time they tour, including captain Keegan Daniel, hooker Bismarck du Plessis, centre Tim Whitehead, flyhalf Butch James, prop Dale Chadwick and loose forward Willem Alberts.
“Butch is a couple of weeks away after having meniscus cartilage removed from his knee which is a bit more than we anticipated,” the coach said.
“But the nice thing is that his knee is clean and he can make it strong. It’s going to be important when those players come back because there are going to be some tired bodies.
“Hopefully they all come back at the right time.”
This week the Sharks play a historic first South African derby against the Kings and Plumtree said the last thing the Sharks need to be talking about is attitude.
“We have tried to change our culture to make it more player-run, we don’t want to be talking about things like attitude and rather want to focus on preparation,” he said.
“We know that if we under-estimate anyone, we can get hurt because it has happened to us before,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ve grown up enough to understand the mistakes of the past. Every player must understand the importance of what we’re trying to achieve.
“We’ve set a goal to win this conference, like the Bulls and Stormers and everyone competing in our conference, but it’s easier talking about it and harder actually doing it.
“You have to remain focused and forget the past and focus on the future” Plumtree continued.
“If your feet come off the ground and your heads are in the clouds, this competition comes back and bites you.”
Plumtree said that his players now understand that they have to respect every opposition.
“We’ve been there and done that and got hurt in the past,” the coach said.
“The players understand that. And we are expecting something patriotic from the Kings. They’ve come off a win, they have the crowd behind them, they will have enjoyed their first experience and probably looking forward to the next one – us. The warning signs are there.
“When you combine all of that you get passion,” Plumtree said. “We won’t focus on the unknowns, rather on how we can beat them.
“We’ll go through the routines, it will be about each individual and making sure they’re prepared to do their job. We will have a game plan and we need to go out and complete it. But if we’re not up for them mentally, it doesn’t matter what plan you have.” - The Star