Sharks coach John Plumtree is determined to put the joy back in Springbok Ruan Pienaar's game and will only play him at scrumhalf for the remainder of the Currie Cup competition.

Speaking to the media after his team's 24-13 win at the weekend, which left the defending champions firmly entrenched at the top of the standings, Plumtree said it is vital for the multi-talented Pienaar to settle down in one position.

Pienaar, who was moved from scrumhalf to flyhalf by Springboks coach Peter de Villiers, who then also started using him at fullback in this year's Tri-Nations, seemed to have lost his zest for the game and played off the bench behind Morne Steyn (at flyhalf) and Francois Steyn (fullback) in the latter stages of the Southern Hemisphere championship.

However, on his return to the Sharks last week he was immediately reinstalled as a No.9 by Plumtree, who confirmed that Pienaar will play at scrumhalf for the rest of the season.

"He needs to start feeling good about his game and the game of rugby," Plumtree told a media gathering in Durban.

"Having been shifted around, he's had a bit of disappointment and we want to see him enjoy his rugby again.

"He will play at flyhalf at some point for The Sharks but right now he will play No.9 and I want to see him enjoy his game."

The Sharks came out of the clash against the Cheetahs a little battered and bruised, given the physicality of the fixture - with Jean Deysel one of the players who was forced to leave the field.

"He [Deysel] took a knock to the knee, but I don't think it is too serious," Plumtree said.

"Craig Burden suffered a shoulder injury, which could mean two or three weeks out and Odwa Ndungane took a head knock, but should be OK."

The plan now is to freshen up most of the returning Springboks - most of whom played off the bench against the Cheetahs - and give them a break during the week.

"Adi Jacobs needs to see his family, but I'll bring him back, he doesn't need to train, he needs to play, he's done enough training.

"It might be a similar scenario for Bismarck du Plessis.

"The rest of the guys like Ruan Pienaar, Jannie du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski and so on, those guys are keen to carry on, to get some game time."

It's looking good

Asked how the team's depth is looking - not just for the rest of the Currie Cup, but also looking ahead to next year's Super 14, Plumtree admitted that it was looking good.

"Yep, I think we have great depth. There are still a couple guys I want to recruit to strengthen us in the areas I want, but it's going to be an exciting Super 14.

"We have lost an outstanding footballer in Frans Steyn [heading to France], which is a huge blow, but we're really happy with how Riaan Swanepoel has come along. There are some similarities, although in the kicking department, Frans is a freak in terms of some of the things he can do."

Plumtree admitted after his team beat the Cheetahs at the weekend that he felt great relief with the result, knowing it was always going to be a difficult fixture.

"I knew it was going to be like that, a tough match," he said.

"Free State have a lot of pride and they're fighting to stay in the competition. The week leading into the game was probably more difficult than theirs in terms of integrating the Boks back as well as selection, so I was just relived to get through that, relieved to get the four points."

Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske also spoke of the returning Springboks ? a pretty different scenario for him ? saying: "We don't have the same problem of integrating them, we only have two and one was injured, so it is always difficult if there are a lot, but to have a lot of game breakers is a luxury The Sharks have.

"I thought the first half of the game was the same as last week against Western Province when we gave away two early tries, and against a quality team it's hard to come back from that. I also thought they overpowered us physically."