The Hollywoodbets Sharks can look back at their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with a sense of appreciation for the strides made, while acknowledging that they have the makings of greater achievements next season.
It is clear that the 2024/25 season surpassed all that has gone before the Durban side as they finished the pool stages in third place, hosted a quarter-final at Hollywoodbets Kings Park where they beat Munster to contest their first-ever semi-final in the competition.
A near-faultless home campaign underlined how much of a fortress they have created at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, making it almost impossible for visiting sides to win in Durban.
Defeating the three previous champions – the DHL Stormers, Munster and Glasgow Warriors – in consecutive games was also a noteworthy achievement that proved they can fight, and beat, the best.
Injuries didn’t help their campaign, unable to field the same side for long periods of time, the team struggled with continuity in performances and selection, but nonetheless still racked up win after win, earning 13 victories out of their 18 pool matches.
Providing his thoughts on the season as a whole, Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach John Plumtree conceded that he had many challenges along the way, but has learned so much as he plans for his third season at the helm.
“It was a tough season and I’ve learned a lot in my second year in the Vodacom United Rugby Champion,” he said at the conclusion of the season.
“Last year I didn’t know anything about the VURC as a coach, I had a new coaching staff, we had players exiting the team and then we went about strengthening the squad. We brought some good players in and we finished at this point, so yes, this has been a better season. But we have to work out how we can do better in the Champions Cup, especially coming off the back of a massive Springbok campaign. There has been a lot of publicity about how poor the South African teams were in this competition, we have to work out how we can be better.
“The players really want to compete in that tournament, they want to be on the big stage, but we have to work out how we can do it.”
He added that teams also need a bit of luck. “We had 18, 19 injuries at one stage, there was a bit of a crisis and we worked our way through and got to this point. Not having Grant Williams or Eben Etzebeth for the semi-final, two of our best players, was probably tough for the boys.”
Looking back over the campaign, he acknowledged that there were tough periods, “Particularly after the November international season. Then there were the Investec Champions Cup games, then we had our Boks back but they were tired, so competing with players who had played 14, 15 internationals is a real challenge for some players.”
The season was then punctuated by the Christmas break before losing his internationals to the Springbok resting periods.
“So it’s navigating that period with the rest of the team when you don’t have those players available and then when you do get everyone back, it’s where you’re sitting on the log, how you can progress towards qualifying for quarters, semis and finals in both competitions.”
He admitted that one of the biggest challenges was having a large group of Springboks and navigating them through a busy VURC and Champions Cup season post those internationals.
“So the key for us it to make sure that we’ve got the depth in the squad to be able to do well without them. I think we showed that this year.
“It’s going to be a continual challenge for us to keep strengthening the squad. I think we’ve done really well this year when you think about some of the wins we’ve had with this team, when we weren’t full-strength by any means and still picked up victories.
“Coaching the Sharks side isn’t for the faint-hearted. It keeps me awake at night!”
