Durban - John Plumtree was a spectator at last year’s rugby Murray Cup final at the Crusaders ground in Durban and I asked him if (then Sharks CEO) John Smit had done him a favour by “letting him go” from the Sharks at the end of 2012.
There was a broad grin from the big Kiwi and he answered: “I’m a different coach now, I have a lot more to offer.”
Plumtree’s presence at that club rugby day was a signpost of things to come and it is indeed coming to pass that he is returning to the Shark Tank for a second stint as head coach. He is effectively replacing Sean Everitt, who became a scapegoat when the Sharks lost heavily to Cardiff in a United Rugby Championship match last October.
Plumtree would have felt his pain because he is available to the Sharks after suffering a similar fate last year – the All Blacks were enduring a horror run and to satiate the baying New Zealand public, a shake-up in the assistants occurred. Ian Foster survived, Plum didn’t.
But three years intimately involved in the coaching of arguably the world’s premier rugby team has surely boosted Plumtree’s skills.
That was not his only experience with an international side since exiting Kings Park. His first stop was Dublin where he assisted Joe Schmidt in building Ireland into the great side they currently are.
In between Ireland and the All Blacks, he coached the Hurricanes and assisted Japan head coach Jamie Joseph.
When I think back to Plumtree as a coach in 2012, the Sharks were tapering off after a successful era under him. He had taken over from Dick Muir after the 2007 season when the Sharks lost in the Super 14 final to the Bulls. In 2008, the Sharks won the Currie Cup in Plumtree’s first year in charge – the first time since 1996 – and they were strong in all competitions until 2012 when they looked a touch stale.
The upshot is that Plumtree went off into the world and now returns as what I would call a modern coach with old-school values.
This is exactly what the Sharks need because I sense they need to work on their culture. That is because when nearly all of your players arrive in Durban via the chequebook and not local systems, it takes time and effort to establish what the team stands for.
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I have no doubt that director of rugby Neil Powell and Plumtree will agree as to exactly what the Sharks’ culture should be – Plumtree played 80 games for the Natal team of the ‘90s that established a wonderful culture and Powell’s brilliant work at the Blitzboks was based on something similar.
There are a number of ingredients to the team culture recipe but it can be summed up very briefly – the team first and individual egos a distant second.
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There would be one crucial factor for Plumtree in taking on the job and that would be zero interference from the top. That means the American investors must leave him to do the job.
I think this area got blurred when the Americans came in and Everitt had players foisted on him that did not necessarily fit in with his game plan.
The coach has to have a major say in recruitment and must be left to pick his team. Plumtree cannot be judged by the owners if he has not chosen the players.
Plumtree is old school and won’t budge on this.
I envisage Powell and Plumtree forming a strong partnership. The former did his best as an interim coach after Everitt left but he can now be allowed to do what he did so well at the Blitzboks.
This is the establishment of structures across all elements of the Sharks that will ultimately contribute to the senior team winning.
@MikeGreenaway67