The ‘family’ that fuels Plumtree’s passion for the Hollywoodbets Sharks

John Plumtree. Inpho

It says everything about John Plumtree’s passion for the Hollywoodbets Sharks that in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship season where he was without his family for 21 months, Durban families opened their doors to a man whose love for their team runs deep.

It is easy to constantly focus on the demands this competition places on the players and sometimes forget the similar demands placed on the coaches.

The kind that drives a man with strong family bonds to sacrifice this for months in pursuit of a goal for his team. The kind where he structures his day down to the finest detail of creating tasks like going grocery shopping on his own, just to sometimes keep from missing his family too much. The kind that makes a Durban family open their home in support.

“I’ve never coached in a competition where the season is so long. It’s like a marathon. So being without my family through this has been a personal challenge for me. But there have been two or three families that have really supported me and welcomed me into their homes. That gave me the balance I needed,” says Plumtree, who with his coaching staff has guided the Sharks to their highest ever finish of third on the competition table and set up a semi-final with the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria this weekend.

It's been a remarkable turnaround from finishing 14th last season to this season winning the South African Shield and adding this to the EPCR Challenge Cup and Carling Currie Cup trophies ever since Plumtree arrived in Durban.

“We had a lot of challenges last year and there was plenty of work to do just sorting out the squad. This year has been smoother, apart from the injuries. We had a seven to eight-week period where we lost about 18 players. We had to utilise our full squad depth. That’s going to be a massive challenge going forward – namely how we manage our boys coming back from 15 Tests and their tanks are empty.

“So I’m proud of the way this team showed guts in some really tough games when we were under strength and fought to get a result against a full strength Vodacom Bulls or DHL Stormers. I’m proud of how we stay in any fight. Now we’ve reached this point and we’ve got some players back. So it’s exciting,” says Plumtree.

It's happened a lot quicker than even Plumtree thought would be possible when he first took on this role.

“When I came here I thought it might take three to four years to put together a squad. We’re at this point now in my second year.”

There will always be immense expectation around a team as loaded with Springbok talent as the Sharks are and with that will come the criticism when they don’t get it right. As much as Plumtree can explain the process of how the team has reached this point, it’s to people that he rather points when describing what is working for them.

“I have a passion for this team because I’ve played for it and coached it before. It’s a genuine love for this team and the people of Durban and I’ve had nothing but support from my fellow coaches and the community. That’s made it easy for me to work hard for the brand and community.

“Then you look at how supportive Marco Masotti has always been. There have been some tough times the last few years and he’s stuck with the team. From our CEO Shaun Bryans to Neil Powell and our coaching staff – you cannot get to this point without that support. When you go through the ups and downs, there is a lot of emotion attached to it. But to get it right it’s important that everyone check their emotions. It’s so that we can get to this moment of why we play the game.”

Then Plumtree pauses.

“You’ve got to be able to see it,” he adds.

Indeed, you need to be able to see that for Plumtree and his team, it’s not so much about what you’re willing to do to win the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

It’s about what you’re willing to go through together.

SATURDAY

Vodacom Bulls v Hollywoodbets Sharks

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria – KO 5.15pm IRE & UK/6.15pm ITA & SA

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 107th league game)

AR 1: Sam Grove-White (SRU) AR 2: Adam Jones (WRU)

TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

Live on: SuperSport, TG4, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv