A glum John Plumtree expects a vast improvement from the Sharks against Benetton next week, following a last-gasp Vodacom URC round 3 win on Saturday in Wales.

The Sharks boss didn’t hide his frustration despite his side’s dramatic 33-30 win over the Dragons at Rodney Parade. Hooker Fez Mbatha scored the match-winning try in the 85th minute, capping off a gutsy, 20-phase attack to snatch victory in Newport.

Though the Durbanites walked away with their first win of the 2024-25 URC campaign, Plumtree was critical of the performance, pointing out their lack of urgency and poor discipline.

“I wasn’t happy with the performance,” Plumtree was post-match quoted in the media. “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.”

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The Sharks faced a 22-12 half-time deficit, plagued by unforced errors and two yellow cards. Despite these challenges, they managed to mount a comeback in the second half, scoring three tries to the Dragons’ one. Yet, Plumtree wasn’t convinced by their effort.

“I thought we were pretty passive tonight and lacked urgency. We’ve got stuff to fix in that space. We didn’t really execute our plan,” he added.

The Sharks’ tries came from Emmanuel Tshituka, Jordan Hendrikse, Jurenzo Julius, Ethan Hooker, and Mbatha, with Siya Masuku’s conversions proving crucial. Despite their fightback, Plumtree rued the Sharks’ ill-discipline, which allowed the Dragons to build scoreboard pressure.

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

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

The Sharks bring the curtain down on their European tour with next Saturday’s clash against Benetton in Italy, with Plumtree concluding: “We will take the win, but that is all it is. We need to be a lot better.”

Photo: Geraint Nicholas/Gallo Images

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