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Sharks' semi-final to be staged in England - Plumtree
Sharks head coach John Plumtree said many sacrifices were made behind the scenes as his team secured a Challenge Cup semifinal.
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That semifinal is set to be played in England.
The Sharks will face French side Clermont in the last four after Plumtree’s side recorded a 36-30 win over Edinburgh in Durban in their quarterfinal on Saturday.
Earlier this season tournament organisers for the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), confirmed that South African teams can only get home-ground advantage up to the quarterfinals.
It means the Sharks are hitting the road for their semifinal clash despite being the top seeds in the Challenge Cup.
After Saturday’s victory over Edinburgh, Plumtree revealed the road ahead for his team including the host city for the semifinal.
“I am feeling great. I am just happy for our fans and all our stakeholders here at the Sharks,” said Plumtree.
“We have many people that follow us around the world. They haven’t had a lot to cheer about but now they have something to really look forward to and it is us playing a semifinal in London.
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“It is a big stage against a quality French side, so that is something for us to build towards.
“A lot can happen – we still got two games [in the United Rugby Championship] before that.
“The team is happy. This was always going to be a tough challenge playing Edinburgh again and I am just really proud of the coaches.
“They have been working hard and giving up a lot of their time and I’m happy with the leaders and the way we adjusted in the second half.”
The Sharks were on the back foot for large periods of the first half against Edinburgh. The Scottish side dominated territory and possession and were 16-14 ahead at half-time.
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“It wasn’t a time to panic. We had to tidy up on two or three things,” Plumtree explained.
Attack 
116
Passes
106
85
Ball Carries
103
125m
Post Contact Metres
176m
5
Line Breaks
5
“One was our discipline and the other was just our skill sets. We were just turning ball over and not playing well and it looked like our confidence was taking a bit of bash and we had to do quite a bit of defending as well.
“I think we had 38 percent possession and territory, so we had no ball and no territory.
“It was pretty much what we did to them last time out [on March 30 in a 23-13 win] and now they were doing it to us, so we had to win the referee over by being more disciplined.
“That was a big message and just believing that if we can tidy some of our skill sets in the forwards and backs, we could get on top of them.
“It was an easy story to tell at half-time. We just had to fix it up.”
The Sharks will now head to the United Kingdom for matches against Glasgow Warriors (April 19) and the Scarlets (April 26).
Their Challenge Cup semifinal against Clermont will take place on the weekend of May 3-5.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
54 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
54 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
54 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
54 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
54 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
54 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
54 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
54 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
54 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
54 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
54 Go to comments