John Plumtree would probably say that the low point of his coaching career was an earth-shattering loss to lowly Zebre in Parma a year ago, a disappointment he has not forgotten as the same team visits the Shark Tank on Saturday for a United Rugby Championship (URC) match.
That loss to Zebre was the fourth match into Plumtree’s second tenure at the Sharks and the fourth successive loss. In a scrappy encounter, the Italians edged home 12-10 to end a staggering run of 28 successive defeats, one of the longest losing streaks in professional rugby history.
Zebre celebrated long and hard but it remains their only victory over a South Africa side since 2020 while the Sharks have continued to stumble against Italian teams — they have lost their last three URC games to Benetton (twice) and Zebre.
“Zebre are dangerous and we have not forgotten what happened in Parma. That hurt. We have prepared accordingly but have a lot of respect for them,” Plumtree said.
“Zebre have 25 points on the log which shows they have won five games this year, and against quality opposition. They have also lost a few games narrowly to good opposition.
“Italian rugby is on the up,” Plumtree continued. “We saw that in the Six Nations where they won a couple of games and gave Ireland a good run. The Italian teams are doing well in the URC (Benetton have also won five games and both teams are in the running for the top eight).”
Zebre have won their last three games — they beat the Dragons, Edinburgh and Ulster — and earlier this season they shocked Munster, which resulted in their coach Graham Rowntree being sacked.
Those are some big scalps but a correctly-focused Sharks team playing at home will surely put them away, especially with Plumtree having wagged a finger of warning at his troops given what transpired in Parma.
The Sharks also have strong form on their side. They are fourth on the URC log with eight wins from 12 games and have won three of their last four matches, the only recent blip being their no-show against the Lions at Ellis Park.
Significantly, the Sharks have won their last five URC home games since their Durban defeat to the Bulls last June.
“Winning at home has been one of our big goals this year. It is very important. A big part of our motivation is to do well in front of our home fans.
“We had a week off and the boys came back refreshed and eager. I’ve actually had to hold them back a bit. But preparing well means nothing if we can’t transfer what we have done in training to the match.
Sharks team: 15 Henry Immelman 14 Yaw Penxe 13 Jurenzo Julius 12 Ethan Hooker 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Jordan Hendrikse 9 Jaden Hendrikse 8 Siya Kolisi (captain) 7 Vincent Tshituka 6 Phepsi Buthelezi 5 Emile van Heerden 4 Jason Jenkins 3 Vincent Koch 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Hanro Jacobs 19 Corne Rahl 20 James Venter 21 Bradley Davids 22 Francois Venter23 Andre Esterhuizen.