John Plumtree admits Sharks ‘still not clicking’ despite first URC win against Scarlets

Sharks coach John Plumtree admitted that his team has yet to click despite Saturday’s bonus-point 29-19 victory over bottom side the Scarlets at Kings Park – their first win of the United Rugby Championship season.

“There were just moments in the game where it looked like we were going to open them up, and it was either an offload that didn’t quite stick or a pass that wasn’t quite made, so we still look a little like a side that hasn’t gelled properly. We don’t look totally collective at the moment,” he said at the post-match media conference.

“We also struggled a little bit for fast ball. I thought the Scarlets were good at slowing our ball down. The addition of those big forwards they brought in from last week – obviously Sam Lousi and Jake Ball – added a lot of power to their pack, and quite often they held our runners up, so we didn’t get the fast ball that we wanted.

“We looked like we started well, but again we conceded soft tries – just not exiting well, dropped ball, kick-off not fielded. So we’re just not accurate enough, and we seem to be putting ourselves under pressure through lack of execution, especially in the back half of our field, particularly in the first half.

“One of our big focuses this week was that we thought we could score tries, but we had to exit well, and we didn’t nail that.”

A prime example came when the Scarlets hit straight back from the kick-off after the Sharks’ second try of the match, with the home side’s defenders guilty of failing to deal with a kick deep into their 22.

“It just shows how important it is in the game of rugby that when you do score, you’re accurate in getting out of your half. If you don’t, then you put yourself under pressure,” Plumtree said.

“But you have to give the Scarlets some credit. I think they were good tonight – they were really up for it physically and they wanted to show up. Their team’s under pressure back home to keep their franchise in place, so they’re playing for a lot.”

The Sharks mentor admitted that the challenge now is trying to build rhythm during the five-week break over the November international window.

Their next match is a URC clash against Connacht in Ireland on 29 November, before they start their Champions Cup group campaign with an away fixture against Toulouse.