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John Plumtree optimistic about Sharks’ future
'I’m proud of the way we went about playing in the Challenge Cup and how the senior players led that charge.'
Sharks coach John Plumtree was pleased with how things went this season. Picture: by Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images.
Sharks coach John Plumtree believes his team have laid a solid foundation for next season following the end of their 2023/24 campaign in Durban on Saturday.
It has been a season of highs and lows for the Sharks.
The highs came from the Challenge Cup which they won in London 10 days ago, and in doing so qualified for next season’s top tier Champions Cup, while the lows are attributed to a poor showing in the United Rugby Championship.
The side from Durban were the worst-performing South African franchise in the URC, finishing in 14th place on the log.
They ended their season with a 26-14 defeat to the Bulls at Durban’s Kings Park Stadium on Saturday, their 14th defeat of their URC campaign.
‘Reflect more on the season’
Sharks mentor, Plumtree, who re-joined the Sharks for a second stint as head coach at the beginning of the season, reflected on the term in his post-match press conference on Saturday, saying they had put building blocks in place for the future.
“I’m flying back to New Zealand next week and on my flight, I’ll probably reflect more on the season,” said Plumtree.
“We have done a lot of work but we still have a lot of work to do. Right from the start I asked for patience because I didn’t believe the squad was good enough to be a force in the URC with the Springboks coming in slowly after the World Cup (in France late last year) and our depth not being good enough.
“We could see we were going to struggle to make the top eight (for a place in the quarter-finals). And then it was putting all our eggs into that Challenge Cup basket, which became the plan.
‘Good step for the future’
“I’m proud of the way we went about that and how the senior players led that charge,” added the coach.
“The disappointment is we had three one point losses here in Durban and another four to six point losses (elsewhere). We were just never really good enough at times.
“We have learned a lot and I have learned a lot. The coaching team did a good job. It was a good step for the future,” he said.
