The Sharks are holding out hope that bruising Springbok hooker and master poacher Bismarck du Plessis makes a speedy recovery from an assortment of injuries.

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Coach John Plumtree, who feels his team will need a “complete performance” to overcome the table-topping Chiefs in Durban on Saturday, revealed that they will wait till Thursday before making a call on the seasoned Bok hooker.

Even though Craig Burden was one of the stand-out players in the team’s dramatic 29-23 win over the Blues in Auckland last Friday – which included a crucial intercept try – Plumtree wants Du Plessis to front up to New Zealand and the tournament’s top team.

Du Plessis has suffered various injuries in recent weeks – including a groin problem, along with quad and shoulder ailments.

“Bismarck’s got a number of minor issues with his body,” said Plumtree said of the 27-year-old, who has been capped 42 times by his country.

“He has a groin strain, which is why we sent him home from tour early,” Plumtree said, adding: “He had a quad strain after the Brumbies game, he’s had problems with his shoulder, a fair bit of wear and tear.

“He’s the type of guy who will play through injury, but we eventually said we need to take him out.

“He ran quite nicely on Tuesday and we’ll consider him for selection on Thursday.

“Craig [Burden] is behind one of the best players in the world in that position [Bismarck], but when he got the opportunity he really grabbed it – and good on him – that’s what it’s all about.

“He certainly showed that he’s more than capable at this level.”

Another concern for the Sharks is Marcell Coetzee (shoulder), but No.8 Ryan Kankowski (finger) may return to the Vodacom Cup side.

Plumtree acknowledged that the last four weeks had not been the easiest, but felt the team was still on course for a successful season.

“It wasn’t easy by any means, but the 11 points we collected means we’re still in the hunt, and one of only three sides who haven’t had a bye yet,” he said.

Plumtree admits his Sharks side are still searching for that “complete performance”, after their return from a tough Super Rugby trip to Australia and New Zealand over the weekend.

“We’ve only strung together two wins in a row once, so clearly we haven’t established any sort of consistency in terms of results,” the Sharks coach said.

The coastal side collected two wins and two losses from their tour, results that have helped them maintain control of their log position ahead of the halfway stage of the competition. It currently sits in eighth place after as many games, ahead of their clash with the table-topping Chiefs on Saturday.

Next week, the Sharks have a bye before returning to play six of their final eight games, all on home soil at Kings Park.

Plumtree conceded the team still had much to improve on to reach the play-offs.

“That’s also reflecting on our on-field play in terms of our defence and our attack. You know we haven’t been happy with all areas of our game consistently after every performance, that’s the problem.

“It’s either our set-piece that has let us down, or we haven’t defended well. We’re still looking for that complete performance, so that we can honestly go away and say ‘look, we’ve had a good day here’.”