Sharks boss John Plumtree is looking forward to taking his side on tour © Getty Images

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Teams: Chiefs | New Zealand | Sharks | South Africa

Sharks coach John Plumtree is relishing his side's opening game of their month-long tour against the Chiefs on Saturday. Plumtree, a New Zealander, has seen his Sharks side pick up victories over the Lions and Stormers in their opening two Super 14 games, and will now take aim at a Chiefs side that has struggled at the set-piece so far this season.

The Sharks suffered on tour last season, enduring arduous trips across the Tasman between Dunedin, Canberra and Christchurch before losing a semi-final against the Waratahs in Sydney.

Plumtree's men will face a Chiefs side that have lost their opening two games, against the Crusaders and Waratahs, and struggled at both scrum-time and in the lineout. After their match-up in Waikato the Sharks set off for Auckland to face the Blues and then head to face the Reds and Western Force en route to South Africa.

"I'm pleased, and the players are really excited about the challenge," said Plumtree. "We think we're better prepared and fitter now, our expectation on ourselves is higher. This is not bad for us. We stay in the top of the North Island then Brisbane and finish off in Perth. This is easy compared to last year."

Plumtree was surprised that the Chiefs had struggled up-front, but will be confident that his front-row of Jannie Du Plessis, John Smit and Deon Carstens, not to mention the returning Bismarck Du Plessis and Beast Mtawaria, can inflict some damage

"It was a little bit surprising, they did quite well in the pre-season," he said. "They had a couple of poor (scrums) against the Crusaders and they didn't function well against the Waratahs.

"None of my props apart from John had any pre-season so they're just sort of getting into their work now."