Given the pre-season he has had, with injuries playing havoc with his plans on top of having so many key players away with the Springboks, Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree was right to feel enthused about his team’s opening Vodacom United Rugby Championship outing.
Not many teams go to Glasgow and the Scotstoun and win there, and yet with 11 minutes to go there was just two points in the game and, with a bit of luck, the Durbanites could have come away with what would have been a famous win given that they would always have been rank underdogs.
“There were some real positives. We had nine debutants, so there was obviously always going to be a challenge regarding some combinations and the continuity of our game,” said Plumtree.
Although it might be understandable given the number of new combinations and several players not yet fully acquainted with all aspects of the Sharks game, what might concern the coach is that the same problem cropped up that he spoke about after the warm-up game against the DHL Stormers in George. Discipline. You just can’t give away as many penalties as the Sharks did against Glasgow, particularly at an away venue where referees can get onto a roll, and expect to win.
CONCEDED TOO MANY PENALTIES
According to senior player Phepsi Buthelezi, that is something the Sharks have been working hard on this week as they prepare for their next game against the Dragons in Newport.
“We really felt that we were in that game until there were about 11 minutes to go, we were just two points behind,” said the Sharks loose-forward.
“But the trend from the game was our lack of discipline. We conceded 15 penalties and that had a ripple effect on the rest of our game. Against a team like Glasgow you can’t keep making those errors or they will close you out, which is what they did.
“We could have been better at some aspects of our game, like maul starts. We had two yellow cards and they both came from mistakes made at mauls. It was very disappointing from our soide and it is something we have worked hard on this week.”
Buthelezi agrees with his coach that given the changes made and the relative newness of some combinations, there was plenty of reason to feel positive after a 35-19 defeat that was a lot less one-sided than that scoreline might suggest.
“There was some good stuff and a lot of positives. There has been a lot of movement within our squad. Some guys have just joined us and some had to finish off in the Currie Cup first before joining us. We are not happy with the loss, we will never be happywith a loss, but there were positives from the game against Glasgow that we will take into Friday night’s game against the Dragons.
MORE PRESSURE TO WIN AGAINST DRAGONS
While last week’s game was one that the Sharks should have been expected to lose, this week is different - the Dragons footed the log last year, and with Leinster likely to be heading back to full strength when they host the Sharks in their last tour game in Dublin the following week, the Sharks need to win if they are to be sure to get anything out of the tour.
However, like a lot of teams there has been some change of personnel at the Dragons, and Buthelezi believes they are a stronger side now than the one that finished last on the log last season.
“The Dragons have 14 new players and are a different team. They lost to Ulster, but were much more competitive than the final scoreline (42-21) would suggest. They have a bigger and slightly more physical pack than they used to have so we know we have our work cut out for us on Friday,” said Buthelezi.
However he agrees with his coach that one of the big positives of the Sharks performance in Glasgow was the fight and level of desperation shown by the players, something that wasn’t always in evidence until a culture change started to come into effect towards the end of Plumtree’s first season in charge (the Kiwi is now heading into his third season).
“What we need to do is really simple, we want people to see a proud and desperate Sharks team working hard for one another, we need to instil pride in the jersey,” he said.
“It was disappointing last week we didn’t stick to the sharks way of playing in the sense of what we were working on in the pre-season, and at times in the game against Glasgow we let ourselves down.”
That according to Plumtree might be down to any fault of the players.
“We were not very smart defensively at times, giving away penalties, and our lineout defence on the gaolline wasn’t where it needed to be,” said Plumtree.
“But 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 put us away. Then, at the end, it was disappointing to concede a penalty try on our goal line. There were some really nice learnings for us, some things we can work hard on this week to improve our game.”
The Sharks team for the Dragons game will be announced on Thursday.