“SWITCH ON!” SAYS SHARKS COACH

“SWITCH ON!” SAYS SHARKS COACH

by MIKE GREENAWAY
THE Sharks were industry personified at last night’s training session after their much enjoyed bye week but before the practice commenced, coach John Plumtree warned his troops that it is a mental rather than physical shortcoming that often besets Super Rugby teams in their post-bye match.
For the Sharks it is the inevitably unpredictable Hurricanes at Kings Park at 5pm on Saturday, with the Wellington team having blown into town as the second last-placed team in the New Zealand Conference after having snatched the points in Bloemfontein at the weekend with the very last action of an action-packed, 97-point game (they are two ahead of the Chiefs).
The Horror-Canes, as they have been dubbed in New Zealand, had won just one game before chancing upon the equally hapless Cheetahs.
“There has been a lot of debate over the years about how the bye affects momentum in Super Rugby but it comes as a blessing providing you can immediately switch on mentally when you get back into training,” Plumtree said.
“That is the vital thing. Too often teams (psychologically) continue in holiday mode after the bye and battle to get back to that sharp focus that you need to survive week in week out in this competition,” the Sharks’ boss said. “I have reminded the guys of this and the need to hit the mental switch from the first training session.
On the physical side of things, Plumtree would have had no complaints. Running at flyhalf and in apparent rude health was fit-again flyhalf Patrick Lambie.
The baby-faced assassin had a splint removed from his fractured finger last week and after missing the matches against the Stormers and Lions, he is ready to resume battle.
And apart from lock Alistair Hargreaves (shoulder) the Sharks have a full complement at their disposal – Jean Deysel is to be given an extended run in the Vodacom Cup side to get over his 11-month knee injury.
Speaking of mental focus, Plumtree agreed that the Hurricanes will extricate as much of a mental injection as possible from their last-second win.
“Of course they will talk it up as turning-point win in their season,” Plumtree said. “When you have been losing and not playing well it does not really matter how you get the next win, and they will feel their luck has finally turned given the calibre of players in their squad.

“I know a lot of their players well (Plumtree is a former coach of Wellington) and I need no reminding that with the athletes they have, they are a team that is never beaten,” Plumtree said. “You think you are on top of them and suddenly they have scored a flurry of tries and then you are on the receiving end. The likes of Ma’a Nonu, Cory Jane (back from his wife having a baby) Victor Vito (the former Sevens star) and Hosea Gear can punish you in an instant if you are off guard.”
After the Hurricanes spurted over the line in Bloemfontein, their relieved captain, Andrew Hore, said: “To get a try like that has lifted the spirits of the boys. We’ve had a tough old season.
“It’s been a difficult time over the last four weeks (of defeats). We didn’t play as well as we could but to score 50-odd points in a game of Super Rugby, we’re obviously doing something right.”
Defence was poor from both sides but Hore was not shocked by the score-line.
“It was just two teams out there who are lagging a little bit in the competition and who just wanted to get out there and play some good rugby.”
Of the 97 points scored, six came via Hurricanes tries and five from Cheetahs tries.