John Plumtree: Sharks showed fight despite Glasgow defeat in URC opener

Sharks coach John Plumtree was proud of the fight shown by his team despite their 35-19 defeat against Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship season opener at Scotstoun on Friday night.

Springbok speedster Edwill van der Merwe scored the first try on his Sharks URC debut as the visitors enjoyed a bright start and also had a hand in centre Lukanyo Am’s try. But the home side weathered the early pressure and grew into the game, eventually securing a bonus-point win with their fourth try as the Sharks faded.

The Durban outfit were also hampered by two late yellow cards and ill-discipline in other facets of play.

However, Plumtree was keen to stress the positives to emerge from the match against the former champions in Glasgow — the first of a tricky three-match tour.

“There are some real positives. There were nine debutants, so there was obviously always going to be a challenge regarding some combinations and continuity in our game,” the big Kiwi said in his post-match analysis.

“But I couldn’t fault the effort, couldn’t fault the fight that we had, so I’m really proud of them in that respect. We were not very smart defensively at times, giving away penalties, and our lineout defence on the goal line wasn’t where it needed to be.

"That probably came down to some players not knowing our game. But, you know, after 69 minutes we were in the game and they scored a try that probably put us away. And then, at the end, it was just disappointing to get a couple of yellow cards and concede a penalty try on the goal line.”

Last season’s beaten semi-finalists will have little time to rectify their shortcomings and improve their chemistry ahead of next weekend’s clash against the Dragons in Wales. The third match of the tour is against defending champions Leinster, before the Sharks return home for a clash against Ulster.

“There are some really nice learnings for us, some things that we can work hard on this week to improve our game and have a good week around the boys, just getting to know each other better,” Plumtree concluded.