Sharks coach John Plumtree has been quoted as saying that certain key members of the Sharks team will not get on the plane to tour.
Gavin Rich of SuperSport.com reports that Ryan Kankowski and JP Pietersen will not tour with the Sharks. Plumtree was quoted as saying that Kankowski is not in good form at the moment, while JP Pietersen’s injury seems more serious than first expected, not travelling with the side.
Another who is on the verge of not joining the touring party is Frans Steyn, who the coach says he is being patient with regarding his form, but that he will not start at fullback against the Cheetahs this weekend.
Plumtree was quoted as saying that he will consider Steyn off the bench, as he tries to find the magic that will propel the Sharks to victory over the Cheetahs. Steyn’s exclusion from the starting line-up could mean a return to the starting team for Riaan Viljoen, while Sean Robinson and Odwa Ndungane are set to start the match on the wings, with Sbura Sithole waiting on the bench.
As for dropping Kankowski, Lions recruit Jaco Kriel or Francois Kleinhans could see some action while Tera Mtembhu could come into the selection frame as well. Jean Deysel and Willem Alberts are both still injured and will not be considered.
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Hell, Kanko isn’t in such a slump is he? His game is a bit off yes, but not horrible. I wonder if it isn’t smart to leave Frans at home so that he can hit the gym a bit and drop some kilograms.
What is going on at the tank. Kanko has been put on the bench only to come on 15 to 20 minutes into the game as injuries have forced him on but plum says his form isn’t on track? I think he has done well considering but plum sees different! So what is he going to do about getting his form up? Vodacom cup or more training?
That is some big losses for the Sharks…. It truly is a pity as I would love to see the Sharks take the Cup.
Kriel could really help alot seeing that the Sharks has no other Fetcher than Meyer (kicker, Captain and Coach ) Bosman.
Hope to see Coetzee get a chance aswell think he can be very usefull in the Sharks Backline…..
@PTAShark (Comment 1) : this could go either two ways. We bring in players who want to play and we get the job done on tour or we walk away with a couple points and we need to fight to claw our way back. The coach has a dilemma on his hands and where I think a mental coach is needed most is this tour. Its make or break time for the sharks.
OK – now I am getting seriously worried.
Kanko is played out of position and then accused of being out of form. How great has any of the other loose forwards (e.g. Keegan) been? Only forwards that can really feel proud of themselves is PSDT, Herbst and Cooper (too some extent – bar his poor throwing in the Stormers game). The rest has been poor and indifferent.
WTF?? 😯
Shocking decision, Kanko has not been that bad actually, in comparison to others form, and the tight five has hardly been dominant. Bashford bemoaning Bok camp, Plumtree making irrational decisions, things are not looking good.
Cheetahs by 7.
I would say Kanko is probably one of the more promising players this season. Plum’s gone mad. Bummed about JP though…
If you want, check out my predictions for this weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqXsl5cB–E.
Plum has lost it. Kanko not in form? Then i quess Jannie and Franco are the inform lads
Exactly Bokhoring! Plum chooses shit losie combo’s and then the players pay the price??
Wow as if the injuries weren’t bad enough now the coach are dropping the few experienced players that are left. 🙄
when it rains
@Bokhoring (Comment 5) : I agree, I didn’t think Kanko was that much of his game… Marcell hasn’t been nearly as effective as he was last year either and he’s the guy we’re expecting to get us over the advantage line, as he is right up there in weight and size with Willem and Deysel.
Fransie however has been struggling, but one wonders why Plum didn’t just give the player time to get in shape before the season started, or before drafting him into the team.
When you’re playing each week, you don’t have time for the type of exercises that will help you drop the weight, as you have to be at every training session and whatever.
This competition is already 10 weeks long, Steyn could have been in his best shape by now.
Player management is pretty disappointing right now.
And Plum pointing to these players and dropping them like this, seems like a cop-out to me, when I feel the things we’re doing on the field are the first problem.
We’ll see whether he gets what he wants from making these changes.
This could just turn into the tour of hell. Sharks camp seems to be in disarray.
I know the injuries have been disruptive, but if this is true it seems the coach has lost the plot too.
Gentlemen – get your a$$es into gear. We have the Chiefs waiting for us in a week.
I see Jaco Kriel is in the Lions Vodacom Cup side for the weekend and was last weekend as well so he isn’t practicing with the Sharks although he might have been released when the Sharks thought that Jean Deysel would be ready and that could change now.
According to some media reports it seems that Andries Coetzee is set to tour with the Sharks although there has been no confirmation of this from either the Sharks or the Lions
If Kanko has bad form, what does Odwa and Jannie have?????
@Baylion (Comment 15) :
Any news on Andries Coetzee?
Is he training at all, and if so, where?
@SteelShark (Comment 16) :
Jannie is a round form while Odwa is a slow form!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 18) :
nice video David
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 17) :
You didn’t read the whole comment did you? 😉
@Pokkel (Comment 21) :
I didn’t – apologies..
Thanks @Baylion (Comment 15) :
@David12246 (Comment 8) : We don’t have 15 injuries, that’s 10 injuries compared to the 12 of the Stormers, but the difference being that 8 of our 10 would usually start for us, where only 3 or 4 of the Stormers injuries are players that have been regular starters, or would have been regular starters had they been injury free.
If you look at their backline for example, the only 2 players they missed were, Habana and Grant or Jantjies and in the forwards it’s basically only Eben Etzebeth, as Tiaan Liebenberg usually plays second fiddle to Fourie anyway and schalk burger haven’t played in a while, so their struggling for depth, but fielded a pretty much full strength 15.
We on the other hand miss Bissie for Cooper /Burden, Botes for no one in particular because it seems no one took his place, Willem for Keegan/Kanko as well as Deysel for Keegan/Kanko.
In the backs Tim for Bosman/Jordaan, Mvovo for Odwa, now JP for Robinson or Sithole, and Ludik for Steyn and we’ve been missing fit Steyn for FatSteyn all season (how can I forget).
Chadwick and Butch would provide depth but would hardly ever start.
Yassis!!! More injuries?? When is it gonna stop? Getting fed up now.
Gonna be tough this weekend against cheetahs.
No JP for the tour??
And we have the Chiefs and Blues and Reds overseas (1 and 2 of NZ conference and 2 of Aus Conference).
Damn!!! Gonna be a real tough tour.
However, I am a Sharks fan through and through and this is where us fans become vitally important to the success of the team.
If we as fans really wanna get some inspiration to believe again, look no further than how our backs were against the wall last season!!!
– We came after the boks played, got 10 out of 10 points against Bulls and Cheetahs to make playoffs.
– Flew To Australia to beat the Reds.
– Flew back to Cape Town to beat the Stormers.
This team has character, and heart which is more important than anything else!!!!
C’mon Sharks.
The fans are behind you all the way!!!!
@David12246 (Comment 8) : I agree he is loosing it.
@Letgo (Comment 23) : I was wondering who that guy is who ate Frans Steyn (a la Walter’s wife)
@Letgo (Comment 23) : I dont miss Chadwick
@CPT Shark (Comment 24) : We play the Highlanders on tour, not the Blues
I am highly confussed.
Not sure what Kanko did this week, but he cheesed off Plum!
@Big Fish (Comment 29) : I can only think Plum caught him making a pass at his wife. 😳
@Big Fish (Comment 29) : Hes playing out position. Kanko needs to be at the back finished.
Plum is loosing it. He is acting exactly the same as HRE did when he coached the Sharks. Must be the influence.
He is breaking each every players confidence in the team slowing but surely.
Just one thing one Plum’s decision to leave Kanko and maybe even Steyn behind for the tour.
I think he is thinking of a better good here.
If you could get these two players and a few of the injured players (we have 5 weeks before we play back at home again) back into shape and hopefully have them refreshed, confident and back into form, we could have up to 8 players coming back into the team for those vital 4 last games.
Considering that two of the games on tour will already be difficult to take a good result from with a depleted squad. Why not take this tour, to blood some youngsters who is still fresh and full of enthusiasm.
Even without Kanko, JP and Steyn we should be able to take 10 points from tour.
If we can grind out a win against the Cheetahs (which we should, at home), we should be on a healthy 40 points coming back. The 4 final games will then be must win to get to 56 and hopefully we can get a couple of bonus points along the way to get as close to 60 as possible.
I think this season that would be enough to top the SA log, but maybe it’s time I pull out my prediction log again.
@Letgo (Comment 32) : I don’t agree, I don’t see us coming home with 5 points.
@Letgo (Comment 32) : I think loosing bonus points against the Chiefs and Reds will be vital. It may be a gamble to take a bunch of youngsters to pull that off.
The Bulls, possibly the Cheetahs and even the Stormers are in a good position to challenge us at the top of the log.
I can see merit in leaving Steyn to get fit, but I don’t see the issue with Kanko to be honest. He could just as well have picked on Keegan too.
@Letgo (Comment 32) :
So you think throwing the entire tour away, only to disrupt the team by bringing back 8 new players once they return is a good idea?
If we do that, we will not score any points on tour, come back only to lose every single match here thanks to a new team finding its feet in terms of combinations.
Plum is clearly losing the plot. Why he keeps targeting Frans is beyond me and now its Kankan’s turn.
Plum should catch a wake up and identify that the issues lie with the fact that his midfield is piss poor. Bosman has been a complete flop at 12 and Jordaan exposed at 13. Not to mention old man Ndungane on the wing
In the forwards, Jannie the Bok incumbent is being dominated week after week and in Franco v/d Merwe, they have a passenger on board.
Wake up Plum
happy to see kanko get the boot,hate glory boys,he stands around waiting for the ball and every body else is working their arse off,poor Marcel has to be ball carrier ball fetcher and do all the rucking and defending,like Jordan,you all say he is good in space,where in super 15 are you ever going to be given space and thats why he has done nothing,he cant create his own space.
@bobby 26 (Comment 37) : Wow, that is a long sentence.
If Kanko is so bad, what do you say about Keegan on current form. BTW, I am a big Keegan fan, but at the moment he is not contributing much either.
@Bokhoring (Comment 38) : sorry bok,will try fix,but dont hold your breath.
Keegan at least gives all he has got,and is coming back from injury.[hows that for a full stop]Jannie,Beast,our locks and Kanko dont hit any rucks and mauls,so how are we supposed to get ball.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 35) : The 8 guys would be the injured players returning and Steyn… I have no issue with Kanko, but Plum did mentioned that fitness regimes aren’t the same and up to standard in Japan.
So I would only be leaving two players behind that could go on tour.
The youngsters would then be, either Mtembu or Kleinhans (open sider) and Andries Coetzee/ Mtembu/ Robinson/ maybe even Gouws.
@Bokhoring (Comment 34) : I’m talking Steyn and Kanko here guys, if we were going to get a losing bonus point with them, we’ll get them without them.
@Uli (Comment 33) : You see us losing to both or either of the Force and Highlanders.
@bobby 26 (Comment 39) : Have you looked at stats to support that argument – you know that Kanko’s work rate is any worse than the rest of our loosies.
Marcell carries, but his playing 6 – he should be cleaning and be putting his head into the ruck, not waiting to carry the ball.
@Letgo (Comment 40) :
We should take our best team and aim to win every single game!
The Chiefs are not in top shape, the Highlanders should be a win, the Reds are hot and cold. We can and should win every game on tour.
But we won’t if we decide to leave our players at home, considering the depth at the moment.
@David12246 (Comment 8) : Agree, Plum has gone nuts. Kanko has been playing than most guys. Plum must stop blaming players and pointing fingers at them and realize that he is the problem. He can’t prepare a team to save his life, look at Solomonds, the Kings with a group of second stringers are always well prepared. Sharks are always under done. We deserve better. Hope Smit will help translate or extend the boardroom success to success on the field.
@Letgo (Comment 42) : i have looked at my TV and the score board.
@Letgo (Comment 42) : means the roles and responsibilities are not clear. Who’s responsibile for that?
The more I think about this… The more I feel, Plum is actually showing some balls. He is willing to drop Springboks if they are not on par. Maybe Kanko is just the name quoted. Maybe he mentioned some more names……….
Derrick Minnie included in touring squad
Forwards1. Anton Bresler2. Craig Burden3. Marcell Coetzee4. Kyle Cooper5. Keegan Daniel6. Allan Dell7. Jean Deysel8. Jannie du Plessis9. Pieter-Steph du Toit10. Derick Minnie11. Wiehahn Herbst12. Tendai Mtawarira13. Lubabalo Mtembu14. Franco van der MerweBacks1. Meyer Bosman2. Andries Coetzee3. Paul Jordaan4. Patrick Lambie5. Piet Lindeque6. Charl McLeod7. Odwa Ndungane8. JP Pietersen9. Cobus Reinach10. Sean Robinson11. Francois Steyn12. Riaan Viljoen