Tonight’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with the Scarlets at Hollywoodbets Kings Park is a fitting pool stage finale for the Hollywoodbets Sharks as they chase glory in the competition.
For Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach John Plumtree, team selection has been both difficult and easy as he retains his backline but brings in a handful of forward replacements for this match.
“It’s nice to have some continuity in the backs, although it would have been nice to have Grant Williams and Lukhanyo Am considered for selection, but both of them aren’t right, although they should be good to go for the quarter-final.
“It was a relief that Eben Etzebeth’s injury wasn’t serious, he healed nice and quickly and had a good week.”
Unfortunately James Venter hasn’t recovered from a neck injury from the Osprey’s game, while Siya Kolisi is away as part of his resting protocol so he’s unavailable for this week.
“But we’re excited about Tino Mavesere having another opportunity, it’s good to see him go,” Plumtree admits.
Being able to select like-for-like is a coach’s dream, and for a team like the Hollywoodbets Sharks who have faced serious injury concerns at various times in the tournament, the positive out of all this is the game time given to many players within the squad and the development of depth, so crucial for the team’s success.
“The big part of all of this is the competition for places – that’s what you want,” Plumtree explains. “We want pressure on players and we’re seeing that now. I’ve been talking about continuity in selection, but it’s good for me to know that there is competition for places. As coaches there are debates about selection and that’s what we want.”
The Hollywoodbets Sharks have been consistently adding wins to their campaign, but for Plumtree, they’re not yet at a place they want to be.
“We’re building towards it, but conditions haven’t helped, the wet ball surprised us last week, we thought it would be a lot drier, and then playing overseas and having to play a different game, kicking more, relying on our set-piece and winning the territory battle before getting inside the 22 and then being really efficient.
“The real positive is that the team has shown they will never give up, regardless of the situation. If you want to be a championship side, you have to tick that box, because going into finals, those games are going to come down to big moments.”
Further motivation for the Hollywoodbets Sharks is the opportunity to rise even higher up the log. Should they win and Glasgow lose to Leinster, then the Durban side will host Munster in their quarter-final in two week’s time.
“We want to keep putting pressure on Glasgow for that third spot, to do that ultimately we’ve got to get a win tonight. We want to finish in that third spot, it’s something we identified before our tour, knowing that if we did well in the two games against Edinburgh and Ulster, and then returned home and were successful in these final two weeks, plus knowing Glasgow’s run-in to the quarters, anything was possible.”
Plumtree has a closer tie to Scarlets than any other team outside his own, which has given him a unique insight into their playing style and threats, given how much he’s seen of them.
“I follow [my son] Taine’s rugby closely to see how he’s progressing, so I’ve been watching the Scarlets for the whole season. They’ve improved in just about every area of their game, they’re the Welsh team that’s just got better as the season has gone on.
“It’s no surprise to me that they’re in the top 8, they’ve had a lot of consistency around selection because they’ve had a good run of not too many injuries. With that, their game has developed, they have a lot of x-factor and confidence, and their set-piece is functioning very well.
“They’re a genuine threat and it’s going to be a real contest which is great for us, that’s exactly the kind of test we want before the quarter-finals.”