Plumtree: Sharks can’t afford to play like that against Leinster

Sharks head coach John Plumtree said they could not afford to put in an “ugly” performance against Leinster next week, like they had against Zebre on Saturday.

The Sharks scraped through by the skin of their teeth, beating 15th-ranked Zebre by one point (final score 35–34) in their United Rugby Championship (URC) match.

The fourth-ranked Sharks, playing at home, were the better side on the day, making stronger carries and performing better in set-pieces. They earned a bonus point for their five tries but allowed the Italian visitors ample opportunities through missed tackles, knock-ons and a Makazole Mapimpi yellow card.

Zebre also could have scored more tries if they hadn’t spilt the ball forward twice within metres of the Sharks try line from scoring positions.

It was enough to draw sharp criticism from the enigmatic Sharks captain Siya Kolisi, who said their performance was “unacceptable” after making the same mistakes they had worked on not making in training.

Sharks need to up the ante

For his part, Plumtree joked the poor performance sends a message to the teams above them in the URC – Leinster, Glasgow and Bulls – that they do not need to be scared of the Sharks.

“We’re a little bit Jekyll and Hyde at the moment aren’t we – we are not sure what is going to turn up. We need to fix that,” he said, before clarifying that he is sure top teams do not underestimate the Sharks.

However, the Durban side will need to improve before hosting table-toppers Leinster, who lost their first URC match against the Bulls on Saturday after a 12-game winning streak.

“They won’t give us those soft moments that Zebre gave us tonight. They’ll punish us.

“We’ll have to play a lot better in every aspect of the game if we’re going to beat a side like Leinster, full strength or not.”

He said the Sharks’ mistakes did not come from a mental or overconfidence issue, like they had against the Lions after their loss in Johannesburg.

“It shows that it doesn’t matter who you are playing against, if your skillsets are poor and you can’t build pressure with the ball and you don’t play in the right areas and you’re kicking is not good and you are not winning the aerial battle and you are playing a side with a fullback like they’ve got [Geronimo Prisciantelli], you are in for a long day.”

Plumtree still credits his forwards, Zebre’s gameplay

Still, Plumtree praised his forward pack for their scrum and driving mauls. “I thought our work inside the 22, where the forwards went to work, was very good.

“But in the middle of the park, our skills were really poor. We turned over possession and allowed them with the backs that they’ve got to hurt us.”

He said some combinations in the backline did not work well either, and they would look at this.

The Sharks coach also credited Zebre, saying their performance showed why they had beaten Ulster and Edinburgh this season.

“They worked hard for each other, they were scrambling back and making tackles. We were struggling for momentum, we had to keep punching away.

“They were dangerous in unstructured parts of the game. The fullback of theirs, he was unreal.”