John Plumtree, the beleaguered head coach of the Sharks, is staring down the barrel of a tough season, having copped to personal and professional reflections amid a series of disappointing performances. After a winless tour topped off by a brutal defeat at home to a peaking Ulster team, the Sharks are scraping the bottom of the barrel in the URC standings, with hopes of redemption seemingly pinned on their upcoming clash with the Scarlets at Kings Park.
It's clear the pressure cooker of elite rugby isn't just about the players flexing muscles and making dashes down the field; it's also about the strategists behind the scenes battling their own mind games. "I’ve had a look at myself and the way potentially I could’ve managed those two days of preparation better – what I could’ve done more, what I could’ve done less – and taken that onboard," Plumtree confessed, revealing the self-scrutiny he's undergone to rally his troops.
"Everyone is working as hard as possible, and sometimes when you do that, you still don’t get what you want."
Plumtree, who took the reins in Durban for the second time in 2023, is feeling the heat but remains focused on what he can control, a crucial trait for any leader in the throes of adversity. "There are some things that I can control and those are things that I look to make sure that I nail personally in my job," he noted, a nod to the internal and external battles that come with the territory.
The spotlight intensifies with his decision to hand the captaincy to the towering Bok enforcer Eben Etzebeth this week, a tactical move aimed at steadying the ship. "Eben was always going to be our captain this season," said Plumtree. The timing, though, was dictated by Etzebeth's hectic week—he only managed one training session and welcomed a new baby into the world just two days before the last game. "We just thought that with the week he had last week, his preparation was far from ideal and we didn’t want to add the extra burden of the captaincy on top of that."
As Saturday looms, the Sharks and their fans are collectively holding their breath, hoping that this shake-up in leadership and renewed focus on preparation will translate into a much-needed victory. After all, in the high-stakes world of rugby, it's not just about how you start, but how you rebound that counts.
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John Plumtree, the beleaguered head coach of the Sharks, is staring down the barrel of a tough season, having copped to personal and professional reflections amid a series of disappointing performances. After a winless tour topped off by a brutal defeat at home to a peaking Ulster team, the Sharks are scraping the bottom of the barrel in the URC standings, with hopes of redemption seemingly pinned on their upcoming clash with the Scarlets at Kings Park.
It's clear the pressure cooker of elite rugby isn't just about the players flexing muscles and making dashes down the field; it's also about the strategists behind the scenes battling their own mind games. "I’ve had a look at myself and the way potentially I could’ve managed those two days of preparation better – what I could’ve done more, what I could’ve done less – and taken that onboard," Plumtree confessed, revealing the self-scrutiny he's undergone to rally his troops.
"Everyone is working as hard as possible, and sometimes when you do that, you still don’t get what you want."
Plumtree, who took the reins in Durban for the second time in 2023, is feeling the heat but remains focused on what he can control, a crucial trait for any leader in the throes of adversity. "There are some things that I can control and those are things that I look to make sure that I nail personally in my job," he noted, a nod to the internal and external battles that come with the territory.
The spotlight intensifies with his decision to hand the captaincy to the towering Bok enforcer Eben Etzebeth this week, a tactical move aimed at steadying the ship. "Eben was always going to be our captain this season," said Plumtree. The timing, though, was dictated by Etzebeth's hectic week—he only managed one training session and welcomed a new baby into the world just two days before the last game. "We just thought that with the week he had last week, his preparation was far from ideal and we didn’t want to add the extra burden of the captaincy on top of that."
As Saturday looms, the Sharks and their fans are collectively holding their breath, hoping that this shake-up in leadership and renewed focus on preparation will translate into a much-needed victory. After all, in the high-stakes world of rugby, it's not just about how you start, but how you rebound that counts.
TEAM: Eben captains embattled Sharks, Lucky starts