Outgoing Sharks head coach John Plumtree said he could leave with his head held high if he helped develop players destined for key roles in the future.
Sharks head coach John Plumtree said leaving the club at the end of the season was not his choice, and that his pride had taken a hit from the board’s decision to ask him to resign.
Despite this, he was grateful he could see the season through at the club he loves, helping develop players he believed to be crucial to the team’s future success, and leaving with his “head held high” at the end of the season.
“It’s a pretty unusual case where a head coach is told he won’t be coaching the team at the end of the year, but he carries on. Normally, we get pushed out the door straight away so we don’t get that opportunity,” he said on Friday.
‘The team that I love the most’
Plumtree played for the Sharks in the 1980s and 90s, joining the coaching setup after retiring and eventually being made head coach in the 2023/24 season.
But Plumtree’s first two seasons in charge saw the Durban union underperform despite a huge cash investment from US-based consortium MVM Holdings in 2021, and the acquisition of top national players since then.
Five matches into his third season and the Sharks announced Plumtree’s resignation “by mutual agreement”.
The Sharks currently find themselves 13th on the United Rugby Championship table with one win from five matches, and a tough away fixture against Connacht on Saturday night, where the Durban side have yet to win.
They will also be without most of their Springboks, who play Wales earlier in the day.
Plumtree was honest with the media on the eve of the game, saying the Sharks have “always been considered my team and the team that I love the most”.
“That hasn’t changed,” the New Zealander said. “I’ll always be grateful for any opportunity I get at the Sharks. But as we know, in this business there are no guarantees. We just do the best we can.”
Plumtree to give back, leave with his head held high
He said matters out of his hands, such as player unavailability due to Springbok duty and injuries, and a tough schedule that meant little to no pre-season, had worked against him.
But he had to show the leadership he prided himself on, promising his players to “finish the season strong”.
“My attitude is I’ll just keep going until someone tells me to stop… Right now I am still here, still very much committed to doing the best that I can for this team like I have always done in the past.
“From an emotional point of view, of course we all have pride and I guess it hasn’t been easy. But again, I always go back to what this team means to me, and the people in this team.
“I’ve still got the opportunity to coach some players in this team who I think will play significant roles in the future of this team. If I can play a small part of that now over the next six months, and leave with my head held high, that is the most important thing for me.”
He said one of the things he was most proud of was learning to somewhat navigate Springbok restings and unavailabilities. But in the future, the Sharks would need to look at a new model.
“Why things are done above me, I can’t answer those questions.”
