Sharks boss looking to build on positives of tumultuous season

By SABC Sport
2nd June 2024

Sharks coach John Plumtree admitted there have been trying times at the helm, but ultimately there are plenty of positives to take from the season.

The Durban franchise rolled out the red carpet for many a Springbok this season and brought on Plumtree as they looked to rebuild. However, it didn't go to script, as the Sharks soon found themselves wallowing at the bottom of the United Rugby Championship table.

That prompted a shift in focus to the EPCR Challenge Cup, which the Sharks managed to lift in fine style last weekend, booking a place in the prestigious Champions Cup next season.Their season came to a close with a 26-14 loss to a red-hot Bulls outfit on Saturday, finishing 14th on the table

"From the start, I've asked for patience because I didn't believe the squad was good enough to really be a force in the URC with the Springboks coming back slowly after the World Cup and our depth not being good enough," reflected Plumtree on rugby365.com.

"And then pretty much you could see we were going to struggle to make the top eight and then it was putting all our eggs in that EPCR basket which became the plan."

With the Sharks only set to be be back in action sometime in July for the 2024 Currie Cup, Plumtree is headed home to New Zealand for much-needed rest and rehabilitation. The travel will give him plenty of time to reflect.

"I'm flying back to New Zealand next week and on the flight, I will probably reflect more on the season," added the former Sharks player.

"We've done a lot of work, but we still have a lot of work to do. So I am proud about the way we went about that and the senior players how they led that charge.

"But I guess the disappointment was that we had three one-point losses here in Durban and I think we had another six four-point losses and just never really quite good enough at times but we've learned a lot, I've learned a lot.

"The nice thing about it is that we've broken in the coaching team that did a really good job. We got used to working with each other and now got good relationships with the players that are staying."