Zeena Isaacs
7 January 2009
Johannesburg — CONTRARY to the belief that the Sharks will enter the Super 14 series next month with a mental edge as Currie Cup champions, coach John Plumtree said yesterday the silverware would have no significance in the southern hemisphere showpiece.
Plumtree said the Super 14 was a whole new ball game, as the games were more closely matched to Test rugby than Currie Cup rugby.
But he conceded that the Currie Cup victory provided some positives in the team set-up. "It was good to win the Currie Cup last year, especially after our lengthy trophy drought," Plumtree said.
"But it will have no relevance in the Super 14. This is a completely new campaign. The Super 14 is a different competition and the intensity ... is closer to Test matches.
"The Currie Cup did, however, reinforce that what we are doing here is working."
Fortunately for Plumtree, preseason training started off on a positive note this week with most of the players returning from holiday on Monday in good shape.
This could give the team the head start they need to improve on their third-place finish in last year's series.
"They are in a good frame of mind and training hard. One or two guys have a little work to do (to get into top shape). But we are happy with the players' form. The test results show that they did some work over Christmas."
With a choice group of 23 or 24 players at Plumtree's required standard to play Super 14 rugby, the coach was not bothered by the fact that four of their first five games were away games -- the team embarks on its four-week overseas tour three weeks into the competition.
In fact, Plumtree looked at the bright side and said the tough schedule could count in their favour. "It is great to have our home games at the end ... because by then we know what we have to do to secure a semifinal spot or get a home semifinal," he said.
"The other positive about being away early ... is that we stay away from the humidity (in Durban). But at the end of the day these are just talking points, we have to do the best we can on the field to get the desired results."
With Plumtree having served as former Sharks Super 14 coach Dick Muir's assistant coach, there will not be many changes in the team set-up this season. But there will be less player rotation than in the past. This, Plumtree said, was mainly because the quality of the teams in the Super 14 demanded that his side had to be at its best week in and week out.
He said he would have to manage the players and their workload well.
"The Super 14 is about attrition," he said. "It is about fronting up week after week. In the Currie Cup there are some games you can approach with ease. But in the Super 14 the competition is tough every week."
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