dried and labeled as one of Sharks rugby’s biggest prunes. And although it is true that prunes can get the body moving, John Plumtree has failed to get his team to digest the basics of winning rugby. Don’t give the ball away without a fight!
Plum, just like every fan, would never have dreamt it possible, that by the start of week 6 of the Super 14 his men would have choked up 5 straight losses and that they would be gaping down the barrel of their worst season in history. But let’s not fool ourselves, although they have only narrowly been beaten, this is a star studded side, a side that should be swimming at the opposite end of the log and there can be no more excuses and no more fingers pointed at the refs, the buck has to stop with Plum.
Winning is a habit they say but unfortunately so is losing and even the most ardent supporter has got to wonder if the Sharks will be able to fully recover if they go down to the Highlanders this weekend. But come on it will never happen! I might be scraping the bottom of my barrel of optimism again but I honestly cannot see the Sharks botching this one up. Can they? The fans demand a victory and John Plum will be praying his days of prunedom are staved off just a little longer.
The Sharks face the weakest New Zealand team in the Super 14 and even though they play them at Carisbrooke most of the players will have fond memories of victories on this field in recent times. It is my belief that this win will ignite the KZN team into a resurrection of success hitherto unseen. “Where were you when the Sharks won the Super 14 in 2010…” will be heard for years to come. Ok maybe that’s stretching it.
There are strong signs that the Sharks will produce their best performance this season, despite the critics the scrum has been stable, defense has been solid and with a 100% record last week by Andy Goode the kicking is reliable. The problem is not converting possession into points, 15 phases of steady build up is being wasted needlessly, get this area sorted Plum and the Sharks will be back to their winning ways. Personally I am very excited to see Pat Lambie finally getting a start at fullback, having followed him and interviewed him since his Michaelhouse days (http://tinyurl.com/y95kbn6) , it is clear to anybody who has seen him play that he is one of the most talented footballers out there and just needs the stage to showcase his abilitly. Seize the opportunity Pat!
Prediction: The Highlanders are by far the weakest team the Sharks have had to play on tour and I can’t see them losing this one. I am not saying they will be winning by much but a 10 point victory can easily be expected. I am not buying the Stomers jersey just yet!
Teams:
Sharks : Beast Mtwarira ,Bismark du Plessis ,Jannie du Plessis ,Steven Sykes, Johan Muller (C), Keegan Daniel, Jean Deysel, Ryan Kankowski, Ruan Pienaar, Andy Goode, Jp Pieterson, Riaan Swanepoel, Adi Jacobs, Stef Terblanche, Patrick Lambie, Craig Burden, John Smit, Alaister Hargreaves, Willem Alberts, Jacques Botes, Rory Kockett, Waylon Murray
