Kolisi blamed for Sharks’ defeat

John Plumtree believes Siya Kolisi and his Sharks teammates were left to count the cost of poor execution and decision-making in their heartbreaking defeat to Leinster on Saturday.

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The Springbok-laden Sharks crashed to a humbling 10-7 defeat against a depleted Leinster side filled with academy players instead of their international Test stars.

In a clash of devoid of all-out action, Leinster had a slender three-point lead in the dying moments of the encounter when the Sharks won a penalty in a favourable position on the field. But while the penalty was in a kickable spot, captain Kolisi made the bold decision to kick to the corner in pursuit of a win rather than a draw.

Unfortunately for Kolisi and co, his call backfired spectacularly when their driving maul was held up, forcing the referee to blow his whistle and thus handing Leinster a stunning away triumph.

“I don’t like losing so I probably would’ve preferred to go for the posts, but it was Siya’s [Kolisi] decision on the field; he wanted to go for four points [for a win],” Plumtree said.

“It cost us one point, Kolisi not doing it, but if we scored then there would be a different conversation.

“Frustrating that we got held up, the Irish are masters at stuffing your ball up in those types of moments,” the coach added.

“It’s feeling the moment, you know, and often the players feel different out on the park than what we feel in the coaches’ box. So, they felt like they could do it. 

“Bongi scored off the back of a maul earlier, that would’ve still been on Siya Kolisi’s mind as well. We just didn’t execute it.”

“This game was a battle up front, a battle of two aggressive defences. Both sides made a lot of mistakes, but again, it just comes down to them taking one more opportunity on us.”

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