John Plumtree believes the Sharks are better equipped than before to reintegrate their Springboks as they prepare to face Ulster at Kings Park on Saturday.
The Sharks are still searching for their first win of the 2025-26 Vodacom URC following two defeats and a draw on tour, but will be boosted by the return of Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and Ox Nche, who join Vincent Koch and Bongi Mbonambi in the starting pack.
Grant Williams and Andre Esterhuizen are also back, while Jordan Hendrikse makes his return from injury on the bench.
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“That’s a challenge, isn’t it?” said Plumtree when asked about reintegrating his Boks. “Last year we did it really well. It was a similar situation – the Boks came back in, we played Glasgow, and we won pretty well. So the challenge is there again. Ulster are confident, they’ve started well, and they’re a well-organised team.
“But we’re a couple of years down the track now with understanding what we’re faced with in this competition, and how to integrate the Boks back into our systems. The coaches sent out a lot of information to the players before they returned, so the learning process has been much faster. We feel ready to go.”
Plumtree admitted that their disrupted pre-season had made the start of the campaign more challenging.
“We didn’t pick up the points we wanted on tour. Nine or 10 guys only came into our environment two weeks before we flew out. That’s not much time to get organised. We were also missing key players like Jordan Hendrikse, Siya Masuku, Jason Jenkins and Emile van Heerden. We were on the back foot when we left. But I was proud of how everyone stuck to the task.”
The coach also highlighted the broader challenge of building cohesion when so many key players are involved with the Springboks.
“[Leinster coach] Leo Cullen and I chatted after our game [in Dublin]. He was frustrated about not having his Lions players in pre-season, and I said to him, ‘Mate, that’s how we live every year.’ It’s frustrating because you can’t grow your game or develop your systems the way you want.
“What we need is a squad we can win with without the Boks. I think this is the best squad we’ve had, but injuries have made it tough. Until you have 25 URC-quality players and then your Springboks on top of that, it’s always going to be a challenge. But the players have been good this week — guys like Siya, Eben, Ox, Andre. There’s a lot of leadership in the group.”
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Plumtree is confident that leadership will help the Sharks turn their season around on Saturday.
“You can expect a pretty passionate performance. We’re all hurting a little bit. The players know what needs to be done. But Ulster are confident too, so the challenge is for us to gel quickly. We’re desperate to get things back on track, and it’s got to show in our performance.”
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
