John Plumtree and Ma’a Nonu, the Hurricane’s flying brick outhouse

John Plumtree and Ma’a Nonu, the Hurricane’s flying brick outhouse, are close friends but while the Sharks coach is cautioning his men that the All Blacks centre is stirring into form, he would prefer Nonu to slumber for one more week.

“We always have a laugh about our battles since I moved on from coaching at Wellington (five years ago),” Plumtree said ahead of Saturday’s clash between the Hurricanes and the Sharks in Durban (5pm). Because I know him so well, I would say that by his high standards he is yet to hit his best form this season, but having said that, I see signs that he is primed to explode, but if he could hold off for another week, his old coach would appreciate it!”

Plumtree bases his gut feeling on Nonu on the Hurricanes’ shift in playing pattern against the Cheetahs last week.

“They used the ball more than in previous matches and played a game based on more width,” the Sharks coach reflected. “They possibly realised the value of going back to their traditional strength. On attack, more passes started to stick for them and they looked better when they got Ma’a and Hosea (Gear) into space.

And the Canes’ attacking ability has been strengthened by the return from paternity leave of fullback Corey Jane.

“I think they are changing their game to suit their strengths and that is going to make the likes of Ma’a, Corey and Hosea all the more dangerous,” Plumtree.

“That said, it is worrying when you score 50 points (against the Cheetahs) but only win by three points – both teams will be disappointed with the number of points conceded, and the Hurricanes will be working hard on their defence this week, as we will be on shutting down their big strike runners out wide.”

On attack, the Sharks will be better served by the return of fit-again Patrick Lambie for Jacques-Louis Potgieter.

“Patrick has a lot more experience of the way we want to play the game (stretching back into last year’s Currie Cup), so you could say we have missed him but at the same time have had tough games while he was away, including the Crusaders and the Stormers,” Plumtree said. “Jacque’s goal-kicking has let him down a bit, and he will be the first to admit it, but he has been good in general play and, to be fair, it takes time for a 10 to settle in.

“I have been happy with his progress – he carried the ball a lot against the Lions, which we asked him to do – but it is good to have Pat back because he understands what we are trying to do as a unit