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| John Plumtree. Image © sharksrugby.co.za |
The game was not without its controversy and as captain John Smit said afterwards, when you lose three games in a row, the rub of the green goes against you.
Coach John Plumtree added that, “There were some big decisions that went against us and they seriously cost us. Everybody has been talking about the slap-down of Stefan’s pass to Ryan which would have been a try but for that act of cynical play from Kurtley Beale. There was also a pass to Bismarck du Plessis that was called forward which on analysis was shown to be legitimate and again we would have scored from.”
He added that The Sharks simply have to move on from decisions that don’t go their way and which he said, “Crop up every now and again and which are a part of the game.
“It happens and we are not focusing on it in our post-match analysis.”
Of the match, he felt that The Sharks were starting to look like the team they want to be, but was disappointed that they didn’t get it all right.
“There were some good signs of us getting our game going again but we are still not accurate enough,” he pointed out.
“We need to get all facets of our game working well, all at the same time because when one thing goes right, we tend to undo all the good work that went into it by not performing accurately enough in another area.
“But when we got consistency going, we were able to put 15 phases together and managed to score a really good team try which are being helped by the new refereeing interpretations at the breakdowns which allow teams to string together a number of phases. If you can keep hold of the ball and remain accurate with it, enough to take advantage of the quicker ruck ball you can really put the opposition under immense pressure and eventually tire them out.”
However, one area that disappointed him was the lack of discipline at times which could have proved more costly. “I was very annoyed with our discipline and have been for a while. I read the riot act to the guys in our post-match analysis last night (Monday). I told the guys that the next player to get a yellow card gets a red card from me.
“When you are down on your luck and trying really hard to get out of a hole, you can’t then make it tougher for the team by getting yourself binned. It is just silly and stresses the team unnecessarily.
“This has been creeping into our game now for a while and it has to stop right now. We were always a side that prided itself on discipline both on and off the field.”
On the flip side, there were other positives to take out of the game, especially the spirit and commitment demonstrated when the chips were down. “I was very pleased with the character the team showed when we came back from 25-14 down,” said the coach. “We played the better rugby for most of the second half and finished pretty much on top. I was also proud of the guys because after the Crusaders game we made a promise to each other that we would not give up and they are sticking to that promise.
“We will just carry on fighting until we get that first win and hopefully get on a roll.”
Plumtree confirmed the bad news that flank Keegan Daniel took a knock to the head and will undergo concussion testing in the latter stages of the week to assess the severity but confirmed that, “he is certainly doubtful for the Brumbies game. Odwa has a slight hamstring strain and will be monitored during the week.”