Sharks are way too 'passive' to be title contenders

REACTION: Sharks head coach John Plumtree will have his work cut out for him as his players continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

The team from Durban recorded their first win of the United Rugby Championship season against the Dragons in Newport, but there are still way more negatives than positives.

Their 33-30 victory came via an 85th-minute try by replacement hooker Fez Mbatha after some frustrating passages of play.

The Welsh side outplayed the Sharks for most of the first half and they raced to a 22-5 lead before the visitors staged a fightback.

Plumtree’s side eventually had a 26-22 lead after 52 minutes and with momentum on their side, they seemed on their way to a comfortable victory.

However, they allowed their opponents to regain the lead after poor discipline and silly errors before Mbatha rescued them with that late try.

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SHARKS WIN IT AT THE DEATH 🦈

What an intense ending to the match 🔥#BKTURC #URC | #DRAvSHA pic.twitter.com/oi9kxkmuC3

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— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 5, 2024

“I wasn’t happy with the performance,” said Plumtree.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do around our game, not just from a physical point of view, but also from an emotional point of view.

“I thought we were pretty passive tonight [Saturday] and lacked urgency.

“We’ve got stuff to fix in that space. We didn’t really execute our plan.

“Our discipline was poor and we allowed them to apply scoreboard pressure, so it’s not good.”

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Plumtree admitted that the positives are limited ahead of their final tour match against Benetton in Treviso.

“I think the only positive for me was that we managed to stay in the contest the whole way,” said the coach.

“We found some moments where we were able to score a try and stay in the game and we were pretty lucky at the end just to get the win.

“So, yeah not happy and a lot of work to do this week. We will take the win, but that is all it is.

“We need to be a lot better.”

@rugby365com