SHARKS COACH John Plumtree is a veteran of a dozen major final

MIKE GREENAWAY

SHARKS COACH John Plumtree is a veteran of a dozen major finals spanning his career as a player with Taranaki and Natal and then as coach of Swansea, Wellington and the Sharks, and he has two words to describe what will the latest challenge to his blood-pressure, the 2010 Absa Currie Cup final.
“Major fireworks!” Plumtree said in answer to a question at a press conference at the Shark Tank yesterday that was initially about the envisaged battle of the breakdown.
“Both sets of loose forwards are competitive by nature and destructive in the way they go about their business but I don’t think the war will be won or lost there, although it will certainly be a major battle,” he said. “Firstly there will be a massive tight five showdown, then there is a Springbok backline against a determined Sharks division, and when you add the loosies getting stuck in it adds up to major fireworks!”
Plumtree said he is reassured that Craig Joubert is the referee because he has a good feel for how the contentious area of the breakdowns should be officiated.
“”Craig is very accurate in that area,” the coach said. “He will make sure it is competitive but refereed according to the rules. It is crucial that he is hard on both teams because fair play at the breakdown enables us to play our game and Western Province to play theirs. If you don’t get quick ball or you turn the ball over, you don’t get your game going.”
The Stormers, of course, were heavily penalised by Joubert in the Super 14 final against the Bulls earlier this year. Does Plumtree expect a repeat?
“I think there is still some habit there. Like I said, they are a destructive team in that area. They will attack our ball, just as we will attack theirs, and that is fine if it is refereed properly, and it will be because Craig has shown that he understands what is going in that area, and that means the game will flow.”
It was pointed out to openside flank Keegan Daniel, who was in attendance along with captain Stefan Terblanche, that former Springbok and WP captain and flank Corne Krige reckons the Capetonians have an advantage in that the Sharks do not have an out-and-out fetcher, while WP have Francois Louw.
Daniel retorted: “I have other strengths that suit the way we play the game, they have players that suit the way they play, but we feel that the law focuses this year favour teams that keep the ball, and we have seen few turnovers at the breakdown …”
Terblanche deflected the debate away from the forwards and suggested that the Sharks this week faced an equally big challenge amongst the three-quarters after the forwards froned up agaisnt the Bulls.
“In the build-up to the semi-final against the Bulls the major talking point was their Springbok-laden pack, and we accepted the challenge and stood up to them. I am not saying we dominated them but we did enough to give our backs a good platform,” the 35-year-old said. “This week the talk is about Western Province’s Springbok backline, and rightly so because in their midfield alone I rate De Villiers and De Jongh as potentially the most dangerous combination in world rugby, and so we face a similar challenge to the one the forwards had in the semi-final.
“It is obviously a huge motivation for the Sharks backs,” Terblanche continued. “We are very mindful about not giving them space or turnover ball while at the same time doing our best to give a good account of ourselves against current internationals.”

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