The Sharks return home with a pleasing harvest of eight United Rugby Championship log points from their two-match tour, but they have a mountain of work ahead of them if they are to become championship contenders.
Coach John Plumtree said as much after his team had come back from the dead in Belfast to steal the spoils from Ulster, 22-19. The Sharks’ performance was a carbon copy of the previous week’s gritty win in Edinburgh (18-17) in that the Durbanites misfired in most elements of the game bar defence.
The two overseas wins consolidate the Sharks’ fourth-place position on the URC table and they are guaranteed a quarter-final. And it will be a home quarter if the Sharks stay in fourth by winning their final two matches, which are in Durban and against struggling Welsh teams in the Ospreys and Scarlets.
The Sharks are not going to win silverware if they can’t find their groove. It was a setback for them to lose talisman Eben Etzebeth not long before kick-off (he has flu), which resulted in Vincent Tshituka being diverted from flank to lock, with his brother, Manu, promoted from the bench to the No7 jersey.
But this was hardly an excuse for the overall lack of cohesion in the Sharks’ play.
“In the first half an hour, there were too many errors, some defensive lapses, and we didn’t build enough pressure,” said Plumtree, of a disappointing first half in which the Sharks never got out of second gear.
“After half-time, we dominated the gain line, the boys’ confidence returned, and we scored. Then we thought we could get the game if we got the right amount of territory and possession.
“It was another great test for us regarding our ability to hang in the fight, stay in contention for a win and then close it out. There are some real positives around our willingness to win close games, but we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to win this championship, and that’s what we will endeavour to do when we get back home.”
Some of that work will be around game management. The Hendrikse brothers, Jaden and Jordan, had indifferent performances in this regard, although they were much better in the second half.
The South African teams have a break from the URC this week. The Sharks’ next game is at Kings Park on May 9 (Ospreys), and they conclude their league programme on May 17 against the Scarlets.
