The Crusaders will be the team to beat in the inaugural Super 15

The Crusaders will be the team to beat in the inaugural Super 15 but the overall South African challenge will be stiffer than usual, predicts Sharks coach John Plumtree.
“The Kiwi challenge should be really strong. The Crusaders are looking pretty ominous and the Blues and the Hurricanes have loads of talent and will be very dangerous if they can get some consistency going,” Plumtree said.
The Sharks host the Aucklanders early on, a week after opening their campaign against the Cheetahs in Durban on February 19, and then hit the road for a four-match tour. Last year they also toured early and they need no reminding how tough that tour was after having lost to the Cheetahs and Chiefs in rounds one and two.
The Sharks’ first tour game was in Christchurch and the Crusaders walloped them. This time their first match on tour is a much easier proposition – the Force in relatively close Perth, and then they go down the road to Melbourne to play the competition newcomers, the Rebels. The Chiefs in Hamilton are next before the tour finale in Christchurch.
“There is lot of expectation of us after the Currie Cup but it is a blank page in front of us now. This is such a tough competition,” the coach said. “There are no easy games and the introduction of home and away matches against all the South African teams brings teams such as the Cheetahs and Lions strongly into the mix,” the coach said. “The Lions have also recruited a lot and will take confidence from their improved performances in the Currie Cup. But the Bulls and the Stormers again will be the big guns and hopefully we can be up there too.”
The Sharks play the Lions in a warm-up game in Cape Town on February 1 and the Stormers on February 5.
“These games will be about giving everybody game time and getting them up to speed with the physical side of the game,”Plumtree said. “The results won’t be the main focus. Last year we lost our games against the Force and Stormers in this same Neo Africa series but then beat the same teams in the Super 14.”
by MIKE GREENAWAY www.iol.co.za