News

Sharks begin preparations for final

Tuesday 14th October 2008

The wait begins: Coach John Plumtree and captain Johan Muller

Sharks' coach John Plumtree says that he was satisfied with his team's general performance in their Currie Cup semi-final victory over the Lions on Saturday, but that work still needs to be done ahead of the final showdown with the Blue Bulls.

With a two-week gap between the semi-finals and the final, both teams will have ample time to nurse bumps and bruises and fine tune their game ahead of the big day.

The first step will be to analyse the semi-finals, and Plumtree has given the Sharks a pass mark.

"I thought in the first half in particular we got a lot right but in the second half, the game slowed down and didn't really flow," he told the Sharks website.

"There were boots that kept coming off which slowed the game down which was disappointing as we would have liked to score more tries, but credit to their scramble defence, it was a sign of their character.

"I also felt that our kicking game was effective, we targeted some areas and that came off."

It was game of two halves where the Sharks spent one half mostly on attack and had the game pretty much sewn up before the break. But in the second half, the visitors enjoyed lengthy periods on attack, forcing the Sharks to defend their line for extended periods, coming away with a more than credible effort in that aspect.

"There is more than one way to win a game, you can't rely on attack only," he said.

"We spent lot of time on defence but it was a good day, defensively I was happy. It was hot and drained the players."

Lions coach Eugene Eloff admitted after the game that his team's game plan had revolved around getting early points on the board but it didn't quite work out that way. Instead it was the Sharks who did the damage which would ultimately hand them victory.

"We talked about a big start and were able to get that so we have to be happy," said Plumtree.

"The game was over in 50 or 60 minutes."

"Our line-out strategy worked well, the scrums were pretty okay and when we got them, we took a couple of opportunities.

"I also felt we used out strengths well, Frans (Steyn) had a 50m kick, Ruan's conversions, so it's good to see we're capitalizing on our strengths."

He did raise a couple of points about the areas the Sharks will need to brush up on.

"At times I'd like to have been more accurate, there were a few turnovers we didn't cash in, as well as a few defensive errors," said Plumtree.

"I'll never be happy, but it was a big semi, there was a lot of pressure all week with an opportunity to give the province a home final. There has also been a lot of pressure to front up to expectations, but we've managed to keep it all internal and focus on what we need to.

"I'm proud of the way the team's being led, not only by the captain, but by the leaders in the team."

Of the two-week break ahead of the Final on October 25, Plumtree admitted it would be a long wait, but that his squad would benefit from the extra recovery time.

"I'd prefer to be kicking right into it," he said.

"It's going to be a long two weeks, but we will train hard and keep the intensity high.

"Some guys need more fitness work and there will be rehab and physio for others. It gives us a chance to regroup, so there is a positive."