 |
| Image © sharksrugby.co.za |
“We went back into our shells a bit and discipline let us down in the second half,” he said after the match. “Again, it was knife-edge stuff, but there were missed kicks and missed opportunities on counter-attack and hopefully we will be able to finish some of those moves next time and get the reward we want.
“Maybe we went wide a bit early at times but we have to be ambitious and build pressure. We’re trying to play more, we want to score points, but now when the pressure is on, we go into our shells. Unfortunately we’re not getting any reward from kicking and that’s hurting us, kicking away is 50-50. When we looked good is when we moved the ball around, but our discipline let us down in the second half; we had a good first half, but gave away too many penalties in the second half.”
He also pointed out that to only look at one team would mean not giving credit to the opposition. “The Cheetahs are not a bad side, we need to give them some credit as well. They looked after us, scrambled well on defence.”
He also explained that he felt they were a bit behind “the 8 ball” and haven’t been able to build combinations through injury or retirement, “so we’re not where we’d like to be, and that’s showing. Hopefully we can now get continuity with selection and do something on tour.”
A long road lies ahead with a tough five match stay in New Zealand and Australia, but Plumtree reckons that’s possibly not a bad thing at all. “We haven’t won a game yet, so for us, it could be a good thing to get out of town and get tighter as a group. We’ll get overseas, work really hard and look to pick up wins; I think we’re just lacking a bit of self-belief.”
After the Crusaders’ big loss to the Reds on the weekend, The Sharks know they can expect a backlash from the competition’s most consistently successful team when they meet on Friday morning. “They got hurt and will be chomping at the bit,” Plumtree agreed. “I didn’t think they arrived mentally and that’s what they’ll talk about, they have the game and the players and will certainly be much more physical than what they brought to the Reds, so we can expect a torrid time. But we’re always up for them, clashes between The Sharks and Crusaders are always exciting, what’s important for us is to get over the jetlag and work really hard in the week leading up to the game.”
The Sharks coach admitted that this period is a vital one for the team, and coaching staff to maintain a positive outlook despite the narrow losses.
“This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve started badly in a competition, we’ve always started well and it’s unchartered territory, so myself and John Smit have to keep this group positive, there is a long way still.
“The danger on tour is if players get really negative and get down on themselves, we just can’t allow that. The Chiefs lost three matches last year and went on to make the final, so the challenge is for us to do the same thing. Plenty of people will think we can’t but I need to keep the team positive and convince them they can come back.”
