But coach John Plumtree said on Thursday that it makes no difference. “I have no more idea than the public about what team they will field against us, but we know their game model, we know they will come up with certain tricks to get an edge on us,” said Plumtree, who in 2014 was an Ireland assistant coach under Joe Schmidt, the current Wallabies coach.
“We can't predict who they will select but just as important is that we know how they play,” the big Kiwi said.
“We know how they attack, we know how they defend and what pressure points will come our way, and also where we can potentially put them under pressure.
"Having said all of that, I am a big believer in focusing on ourselves. We are going to have to be much better than we were last week against Zebre.”
A notable weakness in the Sharks' performance last week was their failure to deal with contestable kicks, and Plumtree said that this would have been noted.
“Leinster will go to the air, where we really struggled against Zebre. We won just two of our contestable kicks.
“If we are going to go up, we need to win at least half of them, if not more. We do have one of the best in the world playing for us in that regard in the form of Makazole Mapimpi.
“In fairness, Makazole hasn't played much rugby over the past few weeks because of his suspension. but he has trained well during the week. and last week's game is behind him now.”
Plumtree added that it helps that he has moved Ethan Hooker from centre back to wing to accommodate André Esterhuizen when naming his team on Thursday.
“Ethan can contest there. He is a big lad and good in the air.
“It will also be good to see how Yaw Penxe goes at fullback. Wing is his normal position, but I think there is an opportunity for him to play at 15 in the future.
“Our aerial game definitely needs to be better than it has been.
Plumtree said Zebre...
“We can't predict who they will select but just as important is that we know how they play,” the big Kiwi said.
“We know how they attack, we know how they defend and what pressure points will come our way, and also where we can potentially put them under pressure.
"Having said all of that, I am a big believer in focusing on ourselves. We are going to have to be much better than we were last week against Zebre.”
A notable weakness in the Sharks' performance last week was their failure to deal with contestable kicks, and Plumtree said that this would have been noted.
“Leinster will go to the air, where we really struggled against Zebre. We won just two of our contestable kicks.
“If we are going to go up, we need to win at least half of them, if not more. We do have one of the best in the world playing for us in that regard in the form of Makazole Mapimpi.
“In fairness, Makazole hasn't played much rugby over the past few weeks because of his suspension. but he has trained well during the week. and last week's game is behind him now.”
Plumtree added that it helps that he has moved Ethan Hooker from centre back to wing to accommodate André Esterhuizen when naming his team on Thursday.
“Ethan can contest there. He is a big lad and good in the air.
“It will also be good to see how Yaw Penxe goes at fullback. Wing is his normal position, but I think there is an opportunity for him to play at 15 in the future.
“Our aerial game definitely needs to be better than it has been.
Plumtree said Zebre...
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The Mercury (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 28, 2025