John Plumtree
Encyclopedia
John Plumtree is the current head coach
of the Natal Sharks
, a rugby union
team which competes in South Africa
's national provincial competition, the Currie Cup
. As a player Plumtree won two Currie Cup medals with the Sharks (1990, 1996); and as a coach he guided the Sharks to Currie Cup wins in 2008 and 2010.
, Taranaki. Although Plumtree and Lions coach John Mitchell were born and grew up in the same town, they only got to know one another later as players and coaches. Plumtree attended Hawera High School from 1976 to 1980.
Playing as a flanker
in his native New Zealand
, Plumtree represented Taranaki Rugby Football Union in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship
(NPC) for 40 games, starting in 1985. In 1989 he was selected to participate in trials for the All Black team.
Plumtree relocated to Durban, home of his South African wife. Reflecting on this move he later told the New Zealand Herald: "I did not want to get caught being a young rugby player in a small town for a long time. I thought if I got out of Hawera for a little while another door might open up." So he accepted the opportunity to play club rugby at Durban High School Old Boys, home to quite a number of overseas players at the time.These included Murray Mexted
, Mike Teague
, Chris Butcher, Martin Whitcombe
and Peter Winterbottom
.
In 1988 Plumtree was selected by the then Natal coach, Ian McIntosh
, to play for the provincial side. MacIntosh would later coach South Africa's national rugby union team, the Springboks. From 1988 to 1997 Plumtree played 80 matches for the Durban
-based Sharks, winning two Currie Cup medals (1990, 1996). During the 1990 Currie Cup final, Plumtree was brought on as Natal's only replacement, substituting for Steve Atherton.
He briefly returned to New Zealand in 1992 to play 14 games for the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union
.
During a 1997 game for Natal against Western Province
, Plumtree's companion on the reserve bench was John Smit
, current Springbok captain, who would make his debut that day.
In 1994 Plumtree was selected for South Africa's Sevens side, and played two tournaments in Hong Kong.
, Plumtree was an assistant coach with the Crusaders Rugby Club in North Durban, helping them win "three successive Natal titles and the South African club championship in 1994-95".
After retiring as a player, Plumtree coached the Swansea Rugby Football Club
in Wales for five seasons, winning the Welsh Cup (1999), the Welsh League (1998), and the Welsh-Scottish League (2001). He is credited with "discovering" Gavin Henson
while he was with Swansea.
In 2001 he returned to New Zealand, briefly acting as video analyst for Mitchell, the All Black coach at the time, working in a team that included Robbie Deans
, the New Zealander who now coaches the Australian national team. Video analysis was in its infancy, and Plumtree was frustrated by the buggy nature of the system. He later confessed that while he learned a lot from Mitchell and Deans, "video analysis wasn't my thing."
Subsequently Plumtree was appointed coach for the Wellington Lions, a NPC team. Under his management, the Lions reached the final playoffs in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
Plumtree returned to South Africa after he found that he was not to be given a New Zealand side in the Super Rugby tournament. Despite his success with Wellington, he was not appointed to guide the Wellington-based Hurricanes, as had been expected
A spell as temporary head coach of the Sharks in 2007 was followed by a stint as assistant to Super 14
coach Dick Muir. Plumtree and Muir had been team mates at the Sharks during their playing days. Plumtree replaced assistant coach Theo Oosthuizen.
Plumtree was appointed head coach of the Sharks in 2008. He successfully coached the Sharks to their first Currie Cup win since 1996, for which he was named the 2008 Absa Coach of the Year.
Under Plumtree the Sharks had again reached the top of the Currie Cup log by September 2009. In August 2009 the Sharks' coach received the Coach of the Month award from Currie Cup sponsors Absa.
The 2010 season was not off to a good start after a terrible Super 14 seaon for the Sharks however in the shadow of the abysmal performance, the 2010 Currie Cup season was highly successful for Plumtree as the Sharks won the 2010 ABSA Currie Cup.
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the Natal Sharks
Natal Sharks
The Natal Sharks are a South African rugby union team that participate in the annual Currie Cup and Super Rugby tournaments. The Sharks home stadium is Kings Park. They draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Sharks are the current representative team of the Natal rugby...
, a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team which competes in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
's national provincial competition, the Currie Cup
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...
. As a player Plumtree won two Currie Cup medals with the Sharks (1990, 1996); and as a coach he guided the Sharks to Currie Cup wins in 2008 and 2010.
Playing career
Plumtree was born on 16 July 1965 in HaweraHawera
Hawera is the second-largest town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight, 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on State Highway 3 and 20 minutes' drive from Mount Taranaki/Egmont.It is also on State Highway 45,...
, Taranaki. Although Plumtree and Lions coach John Mitchell were born and grew up in the same town, they only got to know one another later as players and coaches. Plumtree attended Hawera High School from 1976 to 1980.
Playing as a flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...
in his native New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Plumtree represented Taranaki Rugby Football Union in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship
National Provincial Championship
The National Provincial Championship, or NPC, is the major domestic rugby competition in New Zealand. The NPC has seen many alterations to its format and brand. Since 2006 the National Championship has been split into 2 competitions, the ITM Cup and the Heartland Championship...
(NPC) for 40 games, starting in 1985. In 1989 he was selected to participate in trials for the All Black team.
Plumtree relocated to Durban, home of his South African wife. Reflecting on this move he later told the New Zealand Herald: "I did not want to get caught being a young rugby player in a small town for a long time. I thought if I got out of Hawera for a little while another door might open up." So he accepted the opportunity to play club rugby at Durban High School Old Boys, home to quite a number of overseas players at the time.These included Murray Mexted
Murray Mexted
Murray Graham Mexted is a New Zealand rugby union player who played 34 tests for the All Blacks from 1979 to 1983. He also played 38 non-test game including 7 as captain. During his time with the All Blacks, he wore the Number eight jersey and was considered an excellent ball winner and an...
, Mike Teague
Mike Teague
Michael Clive Teague is a former England and British Lions rugby union footballer.-Early life:Teague was born and raised on a pig farm a few miles outside Gloucester...
, Chris Butcher, Martin Whitcombe
Martin Whitcombe
Martin Alun Whitcombe is a former Rugby Union Footballer of the 80's and 90's.He learnt to play rugby at Keighley RUFC and went on to have a long playing career for Leicester Tigers, Bedford RFC, Sale FC, and Leeds Tykes, at prop i.e. 1 or 3...
and Peter Winterbottom
Peter Winterbottom
Peter James Winterbottom , is a former England rugby union footballer who played as an openside flanker. He was England's most-capped openside until being overtaken by Neil Back in 2003...
.
In 1988 Plumtree was selected by the then Natal coach, Ian McIntosh
Ian McIntosh
Ian McIntosh is a Zimbabwean-South African rugby union coach. He served as head coach for the Springboks during the early 1990s.McIntosh grew up near Bulawayo....
, to play for the provincial side. MacIntosh would later coach South Africa's national rugby union team, the Springboks. From 1988 to 1997 Plumtree played 80 matches for the Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
-based Sharks, winning two Currie Cup medals (1990, 1996). During the 1990 Currie Cup final, Plumtree was brought on as Natal's only replacement, substituting for Steve Atherton.
He briefly returned to New Zealand in 1992 to play 14 games for the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union
Hawke's Bay Rugby Union
The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The union is based in Napier.-Representative rugby:...
.
During a 1997 game for Natal against Western Province
Western Province (rugby team)
DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...
, Plumtree's companion on the reserve bench was John Smit
John Smit
John William Smit is the 50th and current captain of the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks. He has played most of his career as a hooker, but played twice for the Springboks off the bench as a prop prior to the South Africa coaching staff's decision to use him as a tighthead...
, current Springbok captain, who would make his debut that day.
In 1994 Plumtree was selected for South Africa's Sevens side, and played two tournaments in Hong Kong.
Coaching career
According to the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Plumtree was an assistant coach with the Crusaders Rugby Club in North Durban, helping them win "three successive Natal titles and the South African club championship in 1994-95".
After retiring as a player, Plumtree coached the Swansea Rugby Football Club
Swansea RFC
Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea. The team is sometimes known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip...
in Wales for five seasons, winning the Welsh Cup (1999), the Welsh League (1998), and the Welsh-Scottish League (2001). He is credited with "discovering" Gavin Henson
Gavin Henson
Gavin Lloyd Henson is a Welsh rugby union player, born in Pencoed, South Wales, currently playing for Cardiff Blues.He attracted much media attention as part of a Wales national team which achieved Grand Slams in the Six Nations Championship in 2005 and 2008...
while he was with Swansea.
In 2001 he returned to New Zealand, briefly acting as video analyst for Mitchell, the All Black coach at the time, working in a team that included Robbie Deans
Robbie Deans
Robert Maxwell Deans is the current coach of the Wallabies and former All Black. He is the former coach of the Crusaders. He also served as assistant to former All Blacks coach John Mitchell between late 2001 and 2003...
, the New Zealander who now coaches the Australian national team. Video analysis was in its infancy, and Plumtree was frustrated by the buggy nature of the system. He later confessed that while he learned a lot from Mitchell and Deans, "video analysis wasn't my thing."
Subsequently Plumtree was appointed coach for the Wellington Lions, a NPC team. Under his management, the Lions reached the final playoffs in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
Plumtree returned to South Africa after he found that he was not to be given a New Zealand side in the Super Rugby tournament. Despite his success with Wellington, he was not appointed to guide the Wellington-based Hurricanes, as had been expected
A spell as temporary head coach of the Sharks in 2007 was followed by a stint as assistant to Super 14
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...
coach Dick Muir. Plumtree and Muir had been team mates at the Sharks during their playing days. Plumtree replaced assistant coach Theo Oosthuizen.
Plumtree was appointed head coach of the Sharks in 2008. He successfully coached the Sharks to their first Currie Cup win since 1996, for which he was named the 2008 Absa Coach of the Year.
Under Plumtree the Sharks had again reached the top of the Currie Cup log by September 2009. In August 2009 the Sharks' coach received the Coach of the Month award from Currie Cup sponsors Absa.
The 2010 season was not off to a good start after a terrible Super 14 seaon for the Sharks however in the shadow of the abysmal performance, the 2010 Currie Cup season was highly successful for Plumtree as the Sharks won the 2010 ABSA Currie Cup.