The Hollywoodbets Sharks ended up having to dig a bit deeper than initially appeared likely to get home against Cardiff at the weekend, but in a strange way that might have been more pleasing to coach John Plumtree than a win with the degree of comfort that looked likely at halftime.
The Sharks eventually ran out 42-22 in a crucial Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash at Cardiff Arms Park that lifted the Durban team into the top four as they head into a three week break, but there may have been some concern when the hosts started to test the Sharks out wide and closed what had been a big lead to 28-22 after 58 minutes.
What an evening. Our boys delivered. Thank you to all our supporters. The trophy is coming home!#ChallengeCup #GLOvSHA #RoadToRedemption pic.twitter.com/R53Icc6WLd
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) May 24, 2024
That surrendering of momentum though was not punished, as the Sharks lifted their game another gear once they were threatened and once they had brought on their bench players. And that was what pleased Plumtree, particularly as he had a lot of respect for the way Cardiff played.
The Welsh side are firmly ensconced in the top of the URC, and the fight they put up even though they were missing several players to Wales national duty showed why.
“I am really pleased with the result as I thought Cardiff were excellent and played some good attacking rugby and really stressed our defence on a number of occasions,” said the Sharks coach.
“Losing Manu Tshituka and Nick Hatton early in the game put a lot of stress on our forwards, but I thought Deon Slabbert coming off the bench, having only been with us for a few days, did really well.
"Jason Jenkins adjusted in the lineouts and getting that job done after losing two forwards early in the game was really pleasing.”
Yet it was the way his team adjusted to the comeback of Cardiff that he was really enthused about.
“We had to strike back after they scored and keep that scoreboard pressure on them and we did that through some good moments that we had,” he said.
“The critical thing in the last 15 minutes was that when we put the impact players on later on they did a good job of closing the game out. I thought the (replacement) front row was excellent and Lukhanyo Am, Swys (Francois Venter) and Jaden (Hendrikse) were of course good too.
“I loved the way we closed out the game with two tries but it could have gone either way. As I said, I thought Cardiff were excellent. They had a full house at the stadium and had great support. It was a good away win for us. We always hoped to get them over here and so we were really pleased with the win.”
While the DHL Stormers will host the Vodacom Bulls in a URC derby in Cape Town in a fortnight from now, the Sharks have an extra week’s break before their next match, which is a tough away derby against the Bulls in Pretoria on 15 February.
“There is a well deserved break now for the boys and we look forward to getting back into it when we return,” said Plumtree.