We have to be better than that

On May 18, 2025

Coach John Plumtree says the Sharks must raise their game if they’re to progress beyond the Vodacom URC quarter-finals.

The Sharks ground out a 12-3 win against Scarlets at Kings Park on Saturday night to finish third on the log and set up a home meeting with Munster.

Plumtree had spoken in the buildup to the match about the need for his team to finally produce a complete performance this season, but they again made a plethora of errors on attack that contributed towards a tryless encounter that was hard to watch.

“I don’t think it was a lack of intent, it was more about our accuracy,” he said. “We had a lot of lineouts in the game, especially in the first 30 minutes, and had a lot of possession and territory, but we couldn’t build any pressure with the ball. There were too many basic mistakes, which got pretty frustrating for the boys. It was like no matter how hard we tried, nothing was going well.

“The defences of both teams dominated, and it didn’t look like there was much space [in which to attack]. And again, you’re playing in these dewy conditions. It was a pretty frustrating night for both teams.

“It wasn’t much of a game of rugby, to be honest.”

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Plumtree admitted the number of Sharks’ errors from first-phase attack in recent weeks was worrying going into the playoffs.

“We have to be better than that. The players are frustrated too. There were a few issues around our attack tonight. We mucked up our launches, just through inaccuracies. It looked to me that we were trying very hard but there was just one more mistake. We just couldn’t get anything right. It wasn’t a good performance from us, and we have to really look at the reasons why and get better.

“We’re lacking accuracy in our game. We’re training really hard and we’re looking really good and we’re putting all those skills under pressure in training, but it’s about transferring it to the game and we’re not quite nailing that. I’ve got a lot experienced players in my team and they don’t have to be told that.

“Next time we run out here it will be knockout rugby, and we’ll have to play much better if we want to carry on in the tournament. Because from now on, the stakes go up.”

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Plumtree was pleased with his side’s defensive efforts, though.

“[Defence coach] Joey Mongalo will be really happy, he’s been putting in a lot of hard work. And when the attack’s not going well, then the defence has to go well.

“I thought our lineout was also good tonight. There were a lot of lineouts and Scarlets have a good defensive lineout.

“The scrum was a bit messy from both teams, there were a few free-kicks and penalties, but I’m really happy with the fact that we defended well.”