Coach John Plumtree was as reserved in his post match comments as always, and after another poor performance at the Sharks Tank, this time resulting in a loss instead of a narrow victory, the coach was a bit short and not so sweet.
If anybody did not notice, Plumtree watched the game from the side of the field instead of being up in the coach’s box, and asked if the match was as frustrating from there as from where we were sitting, “Yeah, look, to lose with 2 minutes to go is pretty hard work for the players and I thought it was a physical contest between the team, and it came down to one thing being the difference between the two teams, being Freddie’s charge down. Not quite sure about the TMO decision, it didn’t look like he had control of the ball when he placed it, which was disappointing. But that is rugby.”
Asked about the changes to team that took to the field from the team that was announced and whether it was part of the plan, “Yeah it was” was his short answer. But he eventually continued, “I think Freddie wasn’t playing well, so I wanted to wake him up. I wanted to have Meyer there and see how he played and he went allright. Jean Deysel, I just wanted to find room for Marcell to give us more ball carriers and with Jean still coming back to his best, give him the opportunity to play at lock and end the game at flank.”
Asked about the lineouts, “It was difficult conditions and Kyle is still learning his trade in that area. One or two lineouts had bad calls and one or two plays had mistakes from the pressure from the younger guys. Its sacrilege when you don’t take the three points, go for the corner and lose the lineout. That was the biggest disappointment from the night. Like I say, we have a pretty young hooker there, conditions were difficult.”
Asked to comment about the amount of work left to do,”Yeah there is, the nice thing about what happened out there today is that I have felt more disappointed from matches that we have actually won playing with no intensity or commitment. Tonight we found some of that form and I have asked the players to hold onto that. Tonight, at least we were comitted for 80 minutesand intensity was right up there and we did compete, if we can hold onto that for the next couple of games, then who knows what will happen. That is the big plus for us tonight.”
Asked about the players returning from injury. “Craig Burden might come back this week, if he does make it, it will be off the bench. Kankowski is having his pins taken out on Wednesday, so he might struggle this week.”
Tweet
“Tonight we found some of that form and I have asked the players to hold onto that. Tonight, at least we were comitted for 80 minutesand intensity was right up there and we did compete, if we can hold onto that for the next couple of games, then who knows what will happen. That is the big plus for us tonight.”
If that is what he calls form and commitment then I don’t want to see the Sharks out of form! Really! Plum you’re a joke!
The players found some form? YEAH Crap form!
“Not quite sure about the TMO decision, it didn’t look like he had control of the ball when he placed it, which was disappointing.”
I don’t know what you guys think but in my mind there was no doubt from the replays it was pretty clear that he had control of the ball.
@Ben (Comment 1) : joke is a very kind word dude
@Ben (Comment 1) :
@KSA Shark © (Comment 2) :
I don’t think he meant good form, more ‘form’ in the form of an almost-80 minute effort and showing better commitment than in previous games.
@vanmartin (Comment 3) : I was watching the game with a wp supporter friend, unfortunately @ my place. He actually said that it wass no try, and I actually said that it was.
@vanmartin (Comment 3) : @SharksRTB (Comment 6) : Didn’t look like a try to me. If you are controlling the ball when you roll it along the ground then yes it was a try. No try imo.
@Ben (Comment 7) : But I don’t really care about that. The Sharks were pathetic and deserved to lose!
@vanmartin (Comment 3) : I think it was interesting. He surely had a hand on it for most of the way, but I think at some point he shifted it from his ‘back’ hand to his ‘front’ hand. The two hands not being together, well certainly quite a long way apart. Could one then reason it was a knock?
The point is that we are not questioning a win or a loss here, we all are questioning the standard of play and that is pretty low at this stage. Plumtree does not share that view though.
@vanmartin (Comment 3) : yes… would have been just plain wrong to not award that rty
@Poisy (Comment 4) : then again, jokes are meant to be funny, aren’t they?
And to think he will still be around until end of 2012 for the very least. 🙄 😕
@vanmartin (Comment 3) : He lost control of the ball but lost it backwards so I think the decision was the right one.
I thought it was a try – his body never left the ball as it was dragged forward.
In any event, like many others, I’m not concerned about the log as much as our player development and gameplan refinement.
That’s what has me depressed – I haven’t seen either of those so far.
Must of been the worst game to watch..handling errors were shocking..how often did u see mvovo get the ball???once twice maybe???
Like I said before plum shouldn’t be coaching the currie cup team..the same ethics from super rugby are forming at currie cup level!!!
@vanmartin (Comment 3) : He lost control.