John Plumtree: Sharks players have plenty to play for against Bulls

Sharks coach John Plumtree has given the assurance that his side will give it their all in their final United Rugby Championship clash against the Bulls at Durban’s King Park Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 4.10pm).

Following last Friday’s Challenge Cup win over Gloucester in London, the Sharks had to travel back to South Africa, celebrate their triumph and also fit in some rest. It can be deduced the above-mentioned activities may have disrupted the team’s preparations this week for the clash with Jake White’s men.

And despite not having much to play for going into the last game of the URC regular season, as they are out of the running for the playoffs, the Sharks have put out a formidable team for the encounter.

Rest for Boks

Plumtree has rested Springboks Eben Etzebeth and Makazole Mapimpi, while Grant Williams is out with a niggling hamstring injury, but for the rest it is close to the strongest team the coach could have picked.

Plumtree is confident his charges will front up well even though they will go into the match a little undercooked.  

“It has been a different week for us, travelling back and celebrating what we achieved. However, in the last part of the week, we have worked pretty hard and we are ready to go,” Plumtree said.

‘Players must know what they are playing for’

The Sharks mentor said even though his players are fatigued due to the taxing Challenge Cup journey, they need to find motivation to push themselves against the Bulls.

 “We poured all our energy into Gloucester last week, and the semi-final week before that. We spent four of the last six weeks overseas, there’s some fatigue. However, in this competition it’s brutal, you have to lift yourself,” said Plumtree.

“There are some challenges, and the challenges become personal. Everyone has got their why; why they need to play well in this game.

“It might be Springbok selection or it might be their own personal standards they want to live up to and we have one or two athletes that might be looked at by other international teams.

“That’s the big thing, everyone has got their own reason they need to get up apart from the fact that we have got a home crowd,” he said.