John Plumtree lauded the effort of Lukhanyo Am and Eben Etzebeth after the World Cup-winning duo helped the Sharks thrash Pau in Durban on Saturday.
Am and Etzebeth scored two tries apiece as the Durbanites launched their maiden Challenge Cup campaign with a 45-5 victory at Kings Park.
Am, who also captained the team, opened the scoring in the eighth minute, and the outside centre doubled his tally before fellow Springbok Etzebeth barged over at the close of the first 40 minutes. The lock completed his brace in the second stanza with the Sharks’ fifth of six tries in the match.
RECAP: Sensational Sharks pummel Pau
“As a leader, Lukhanyo is getting used to me and I am getting used to him,” Plumtree was quoted by media post-match on Saturday. “We are starting to have a good understanding of how we both operate. I was pleased to see him doing well.
“[Etzebeth] has been back a couple of weeks now and he is starting to get into the Sharks way and he is starting to lead and inspire others and help the younger locks.
“He is pretty inspirational and it’s not easy for a guy like that to come back off a World Cup win and get back into his club and start performing straight away. So it was good tonight to see him doing that. Hopefully he will just go from strength to strength.”
This weekend’s win was just the Sharks’ second of the season, marking a tough return to service for head coach Plumtree, who had to cope in the early rounds of the Vodacom URC without the likes of Am and Etzebeth while managing a squad lacking in key departments and skills.
“It was a pretty tough week after the Bulls game. Monday was a tough day for the players,” the Kiwi said.
“All we can do is respond in a positive way. We just had to focus on ourselves and put a lot of heat on the leaders to step up and run the week. I thought they were great and I thought they were really good out there tonight too.
“I was pleased with aspects of our game and how we kicked the ball behind them and kept the pressure on them. And we dominated the territory in the first half so there were aspects of our game that weren’t really pleasing.”
Plumtree’s charges hit the road next week for their first away match of the Challenge Cup, with a local derby against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
He added: “Next week against the Cheetahs will be another derby. They had a good win. So that’s going to be a challenge for us. We have to maintain our consistency.
“It’s not about the result, it’s about how we play. We have a nice eight day turn-around because we have Sunday kickoff.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images