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Sharks not up to scratch

Monday 21st July 2008

Not good enough: The Sharks went down in Bloem, again.

Sharks Head Coach John Plumtree admitted his disappointment with the way his side played in their 31-9 Currie Cup loss to the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

"We knew we had to bring our "A" game if we wanted a result here (in Bloemfontein), against this team, and we didn't," he told the Sharks website.

"We probably brought our "C" game, so it wasn't good enough. We were 17-9 down with 12 minutes to go and the next minute we're 29-9 down so it was pretty disappointing really."

In assessing the game, and the result, he pointed to small things that had large consequences in the match.

"There were some individual actions or tasks that players did that stressed the team and that cost us," he explained.

"Two shocking mistakes in our own half when we were 10 points down, already chasing the game."

On a positive note, Plumtree felt that there was some development in certain aspects of play that have been areas of concern prior to the game, but that more work faces the Sharks.

"I was proud of the way we sorted some things out, but we lacked real penetration, so we never really stressed them that much," he said.

Johann Muller pointed out how in the Super 14 this year the Sharks had one of the best defensive records in the tournament, and how important it was to achieve a similar level. Unfortunately, the Cheetahs got in for four tries which was disappointing for the coach.

"There is a little bit of naivety still amongst the group, some guys don't quite understand, and that's what is costing us," explained Plumtree.

"For their third try, we were parking up on the near side and needed numbers on the far side and they didn't get there, and that's inexcusable at this level. There were little things that cost us. It's all about pressure and actions, and at the moment we're under pressure and some of our actions are poor."

Injury-wise, the Sharks came out of the game relatively unscathed, Fr�d�ric Michalak having to come off but with a bump to the hip.

"I thought Sykes had a pretty solid game," the coach added of a player who has been out for a couple of weeks.

When the Sharks replacements came on, one sensed a renewed energy in the side and Plumtree admitted that they did add value.

"Charl McLeod is an attacking threat which is good, he just has to work on his decision-making, Craig Burden will always give that impact and Riaan Swanepoel is someone who is going to grow into a pretty good player," he added.

"We had to be more aggressive at the breakdown, they were bullying us in that area and we knew that was going to come but were slow to react. It was only after 25 or 30 minutes that we actually started getting tougher, and that's unfortunate; if you want to come up get and get a result, you need to be tough, and we weren't tough enough," he concluded.