Plumtree counts cost of cards

MICHAEL MENTZ

JOHANNESBURG - Sharks coach John Plumtree will be taking the same stance as law enforcers in KwaZulu-Natal implementing a zero-tolerance policy.

But instead of locking up speeding motorists, Plumtree has warned his team not to be on the receiving end of any more yellow cards – or else. The Sharks have received five yellow cards in their first four appearances and although they have complained about the use of local referees in their overseas matches, ill-discipline is having adverse eff- ects in the camp.

“When you are down on luck and trying really hard to get out of a hole, you can’t then make it tougher for the team by getting yourself carded,” said Plumtree, who warned that a yellow on the field could result in a red in the locker room.

“It is just silly and stresses the team unnecessarily,” he added.

In last week’s loss to the Waratahs, the Sharks surprisingly enough managed to score a try in the time Andy Goode and Jannie du Plessis were in the bin.

The question should then be: could they have added even more points in the time the two players were off the field?

With only 13 players on the pitch, the rest had to work that much harder which undoubtedly took its toll on all of the players, especially at towards the end of the match.

Leading up to this week’s battle against the Brumbies in Canberra the Plumtree would like to see his team improve in the way they have in recent times.

“We played the better rugby for most of the second half and finished pretty much on top,” Plumtree said on his team’s website.

“I was also proud of the guys because after the Crusaders game we made a promise to each other that we would not give up and they are sticking to that promise,” he added.

Being in 12th position on the log is still considered a disgrace and Plumtree knows that his team are far from where they need to be if they would like to get out of the rut they are in.

“We need to get all facets of our game working well, all at the same time because when one thing goes right, we tend to undo all the good work that went into it by not performing accurately enough in another area,” said Plumtree.

n The Sharks coach has called up Alistair Hargreaves as cover for Johann Muller, who is struggling with a neck injury.