Tonight’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash between the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Connacht has all the potential to really spark action and excitement as the two teams go head-to-head in Galway.
Preparation has gone well, better than usual given the stable situation the team has found itself in. Knowing that most of the Springboks would not be available for this match, there has been a settled squad preparing for this game.
“It’s certainly been the best pre-season we’ve had, that’s for sure,” head coach John Plumtree admitted on the eve of the match.
“The boys had a break and then we came together for a good period of time so we’re now looking forward to this game. We’ve been able to prepare well and get the travel part and subsequent recovery right, and we go into the game feeling really good about our game.”
It hasn’t been the easiest of starts for the team given the injury toll and international commitments meaning the unavailability of his Springboks, but the team nevertheless embraces everything thrown at them.
“One of the challenges for the team at this time of the year is all of the changes, it’s almost like coaching the Barbarians, you bring them in for a couple of days, play a game and all of a sudden, your team changes again. So lack of consistency through injuries and unavailability of the Springboks makes life difficult.
“We don’t have the cohesion that we want at this stage of the season, for example we have four front rowers unavailable at the moment. Our loose forwards look good and I’m really excited about young Matt Ramoa coming in for his first VURC start.
“We have the team to play and spirit in the camp is good, we’ve had some nice connection days and had some fun which is really important and everyone is working really hard.”
There’s a new face in the team, with George Whitehead drafted in as a specialist flyhalf, given the issues that have plagued the Hollywoodbets Sharks at 10.
“Flyhalf has been tough with injuries and unavailability; Siya Masuku has had a lot of injury problems this year and hasn’t really got going yet and Jordan Hendrkse has had issues with injuries as well, and we’ve been running him mostly at fullback with Aphelele Fassi out injured,” Plumtree explained.
“I like George, he’s a really good player and I loved the way he guided the Suzuki Griquas to that Carling Currie Cup win.”
Casting his eye over the challenge that Connacht bring to the game, Plumtree acknowledged the challenge facing his team.
“They’re physical, they work hard for each other and typical of any Irish side, they work hard for each other, so it’s going to be tough to break them down.
“We know what a quality side they are and we know we’re going to have to be at our very best if we want to win.
“From our side, we need to rely on the work that we’ve done to get us across the line, but we know it’s going to be a tough match. Defensively we’re going to have to be really well-organised and the pack certainly has to step-up because it’s going to be physical upfront. We need to get our game going and be as disciplined as possible, that’s key.”