Sharks 'have to better than that' in URC playoffs, says John Plumtree

Sharks coach John Plumtree is the first to admit that, on current form, his side are unlikely to progress beyond the quarter-finals of the United Rugby Championship.

On Saturday night, the Sharks ground out an unattractive 12-3 victory over the Scarlets, setting up a quarter-final clash with Munster in Durban on 31 May.

“I don’t think it was a lack of intent; it was more about our accuracy,” Plumtree said of the error-strewn game, which was decided by penalty kicks. Not a single try was scored.

“We had a lot of lineouts in the game, especially in the first 30 minutes, and had plenty of possession and territory, but we couldn’t build any pressure with the ball. There were too many basic mistakes, which got pretty frustrating for the boys. No matter how hard we tried, nothing went well.”

Plumtree pointed out that it was a night where defence dominated attack.

“The defences of both teams were on top. There was little space in which to attack. Also, playing in these dewy conditions is not easy. It was a pretty frustrating night for both teams.

“It wasn’t much of a game of rugby, to be honest.”

The major concern for the Sharks is that, while they continue to win ugly, they are not showing signs of improvement.

“We have to be better than that performance,” Plumtree admitted.

“The players are frustrated too. There were a few issues around our attack tonight. We mucked up our launches, just through inaccuracies.

"It looked to me like we were trying very hard, but there was always just one more mistake. We just couldn’t get anything right. It wasn’t a good performance from us, and we have to really look at the reasons why and get better.

“We’re lacking accuracy in our game. We’re training very hard and looking good, and we’re putting all those skills under pressure in training, but it’s about transferring that to the game – and we’re not quite nailing that. I’ve got a lot of experienced players in my team and they don’t need to be told that.

“Next time we run out here, it will be knockout rugby, and we’ll have to play much better if we want to carry on in the tournament. From now on, the stakes go up.”

The big plus for the Sharks is that, while their attack is misfiring, their defence remains superb.

“Defence coach Joey Mongalo will be really happy – he’s been putting in a lot of hard work. And when the attack’s not going well, the defence has to.”