Two make-or-break home matches will offer the Sharks an opportunity to get their season back on track after they failed to win any of their opening three United Rugby Championship fixtures, coach John Plumtree says.
After crashing to a 31-5 defeat against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday, the Durban outfit have plummeted to a lowly 13th position on the 16-team URC log.
After starting their campaign with a 35-19 loss against Glasgow, the Sharks were held to a 17-17 draw by the Dragons in their second outing.
Next up for the Sharks are home games against Ulster on Saturday and the Scarlets on October 25.
“Obviously, it is really disappointing,” Plumtree said.
“We weren’t good enough against Leinster and we’ve got a massive job ahead of us in the next two weeks with a couple of home games.
“The Sharks have got to work really hard and get into this competition.
“It was always going to be a tough tour for us, with a lot of disruptions, but there are no excuses now.
“We’ve got to get back to South Africa and play well in front of our fans.
“The team’s disappointed, and collectively we’ve got to take responsibility to be better over the next two weeks and that’s what we’ll do.
“It was a tough night for us in Dublin.
“We knew the start was going to be massively important.
“They came out fast and we just didn’t get the contestable kicks in terms of regaining the ball in the air.
“We had a few soft moments defensively that allowed them to build that scoreboard pressure early.
“The last 10/15 minutes of the first half, we got back into the game, but it was a case of catch-up rugby.
“In the second half, we did our best, but their defence was just too good.
“Once we gave them that lead, it just gave them that confidence to defend really well, and we just didn’t fire enough shots.”
Plumtree assured Sharks supporters that their campaign was far from finished.
“That’s the message to everyone,” he said.
“We keep fighting hard and make sure we get it right over the next fortnight.”
Leinster coach Leo Cullen said his team would take a lot of positives out of a bonus point win over the Sharks.
“We knew it was going to be a tough start to the season for us because of the amount of moving parts and with the Lions players missing,” he said.
“It’s an amazing achievement for one team to have 14 players away on the Lions trip, isn’t it?
“But unfortunately, we’re the ones who are going to suffer ultimately for the start of the season.
“It’s great we’re through now, we’re getting some guys up and running and hopefully they’ll be fresher later in the year because obviously their season is starting relatively late.”
Cullen said he hoped to see a few more of his Lions players line up this week when Leinster face Munster at Croke Park on Saturday.
“Obviously, there were a few lads who did the warm-up today and there were a few others who were sitting in the stand.
“So, there’ll be a few more fresh faces against Munster.
“But again, that’s the challenge, isn’t it?
“They’re playing their first game of the season and I’m sure Munster are coming to town with plenty of intent to get a positive performance.
“I want to get a positive outcome because Munster have started the season well.”
The Herald
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