John Plumtree believes the route back to the top for the listing Sharks is through player development and smart recruitment to cope with the absence of top Springboks during a ‘compulsory rest period’ in 2024.

The head coach was speaking post-match after the Durbanites lost a tense coastal derby against the DHL Stormers at Cape Town Stadium in the Vodacom URC on Saturday.

Lock Eben Etzebeth was withdrawn at the 11th hour for the Sharks to face his former team in his hometown, due to illness.

But, Plumtree reckons that’s a situation the Durban outfit will have to get used to, as a blanket eight-week rest for all Rugby World Cup Boks is slated for February and March – and Etzebeth is one of eight in the Sharks squad.

Also read: Coastal derby a showcase of SA strength

“What we have to do is have a squad that is really strong, so when the Boks come back, they make our team stronger and they don’t have to rescue our team.

“You can’t buy a rugby team. It has never been done before. You can’t buy success. You need to develop it and recruit and retain and do smart things and then you get the Etzebeths and the Vincent Kochs.

“Then you become stronger and stronger and that is what we have to do. You don’t go buy six or seven players and then all of a sudden you think you are going to be strong. It doesn’t happen like that.”

He added: “They [Boks] all won’t go off together. We will have some and some will be resting. The ones that rested will come back and then others will have their turn. We will do it smartly. We are not strong enough to compete without the strength of those Springboks.”

Read more: No Boks on club duty for two months?

Saturday’s defeat was the Sharks’ seventh from eight matches in the 2023/24 campaign, and they remain one place off the foot of the URC table in 15th.

“I was disappointed to concede the scrum penalties. We will have to look at it,” said Plumtree, who must rally his troops for another local duel, against the Lions, at Kings Park on Saturday.

“There were one or two at the end there I thought was 50/50. The last one of the game, where the penalty came from an AR [assistant referee] decision, it looked to me like their loosehead’s elbow was on the ground before our tighthead hit the ground.

“It was a tough call because if that call goes the other way, we get a penalty and we go into the corner and we then build pressure with two or three minutes to go. That is the frustration of being in that position with only one point up or one point down.”