Plumtree: 'Bok depth the key'
Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:35
Bok brawn: South Africa getting physical at training
Sharks coach John Plumtree feels that South Africa's greater depth in talent is what will give them the edge over their rivals, as they enter the second half of the Tri-Nations season. rugby365 reporter Nick Pawson spoke to Plumtree.
The 44-year-old coach - who has coached in Britain, New Zealand and now South Africa - said the Springboks are in a "pretty good position", with three home games to come.
The Boks, who play Argentina in the Nelson Mandela tribute Test in Johannesburg on Saturday, will face the All Blacks in Cape Town on August 16 in the first of their three Tri-Nations matches on home soil. They then play back-to-back Tests against the Wallabies - in Durban on August 23 and Johannesburg a week later.
Plumtree, who won the Currie Cup with the Sharks (Natal) four times during the 1990s as a player, also coached Swansea to the Welsh League title, while they lifted the Welsh Cup in 1999. In 2001 he returned to his native New Zealand, where he coached the Wellington Lions for five seasons, twice taking them to the Air New Zealand Cup (previously the National Provincial Championship) Final.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at the Crusaders club in Durban, where they won three successive Natal club titles and the South African club championship in 1994.
But it is his experience as a coach in both New Zealand and South Africa that puts him in the perfect position to judge the merits of the three Tri-Nations rivals.
"I think they're in a pretty good position, with three home games," Plumtree told rugby365.com, when asked about what he feels the Boks' chances are.
"It's obviously pretty tight [in the Tri-Nations], but South Africa is the only side to have won away from home," he said about a tournament that sees New Zealand top the standings on 10 points with two wins from four starts, Australia second (with nine points, two wins from three starts) and South Africa third (five points, one win from three starts).
But the Boks got five points on the road, the only away win, against the All Blacks in Dunedin, and a bonus point for losing by seven points to Australia in Perth. The only other bonus point went to New Zealand, for their home loss to the Boks.
But Plumtree feels the Boks' biggest advantage will come in the talent pool at their disposal while at home.
"I think we've [SA] got a bigger pool of players to select from," he said in donning his South African coaching cap.
"I think the depth in SA rugby is greater than both other countries at the moment. They [coach Peter de Villiers and the Bok selectors] have got some real choices to make in terms of selection, which is obviously really healthy for competition.
"It's not going to be easy and to win all three games is going to be a big effort, but they've got the squad to do it."
Plumtree said he felt this year's tournament is one of the most competitive Tri-Nations series ever.
"The Aussies all of a sudden have developed a big forward pack that can compete and obviously have got good backs, so I reckon the timing is just right for [Wallaby coach] Robbie Deans. He has taken over a side that's got some really good valuable Super 14 experience and quite a bit of international experience as well.
"The All Blacks have had a lot of disruption with players leaving," he said of about 15 frontline New Zealand players having headed abroad since the World Cup last year.
"They [New Zealand] are missing some of those players, there's no doubt about that - guys like Jerry Collins, Chris Masoe, Aaron Mauger and Chris Jack.
"It is hard to replace that, they don't have such a massive player pool like the South Africans have. New Zealand don't have the depth for that calibre of player. They fought back nicely on the weekend didn't they?" he said about the All Blacks' 39-10 triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.
But he still felt the Boks had the edge.
"It [the Tri-Nations] could go either way really, but like I said before, SA have a big advantage with three home matches."
Plumtree also gave some insight into the rugby cultures that make up the countries where he has coached for the past decade - Wales, New Zealand and South Africa.
"The cultures are all pretty similar.
"Wales is fanatical about their rugby, but it's different because they don't have the same calibre of players that South Africa and New Zealand have.
"In New Zealand they live and die for rugby - any competition, whether it's the NPC [Air New Zealand Cup] or Super 14, the teams are really competitive ... with the whole South Island versus North Island thing.
"South Africa is exactly the same as New Zealand. From what I've experienced, after having coached here for a while now, there's a lot of talent in this country. You know for Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn and Odwa Ndungane to not make the Bok squad of 24 and get released back to me really emphasises that.
"They're three great countries to be involved with rugby-wise, that's for sure," Plumtree concluded.
