The Sharks’ 39-21 bonus point Investec Champions Cup victory over the Exeter Chiefs has come at an “expensive” cost according to head coach John Plumtree.
Plumtree says that the Durban-based side are now “under pressure” following the injuries to several key players, including Springboks lock and Sharks captain Eben Etzebeth, who is set to miss the round two clash against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.
The Sharks ran in five tries in an impressive performance that saw Siya Kolisi grabbing a brace with Grant Williams, Makazole Mapimpi and Phepsi Buthelezi also crossing the whitewash.
However, Exeter fought their way back into the match with Dan Frost scoring twice in the first half, with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso grabbing another with Sharks rueing their discipline after three yellow cards.
Sharks under pressure
Speaking after the match Plumtree counted the cost of the victory as the Sharks now look set to be without their star second rower as well as the two flankers that started the match against Exeter, Vincent Tshituka and James Venter.
Both Tshituka and Venter left the pitch during the first half of the match and had their arms in slings after the final whistle while Etzebeth sustained a concussion before he was yellow carded in the 67th minute.
They add to a growing injury list that includes Ruan Dreyer, Fez Mbatha, Khwezi Mona, Marnus Potgieter, Braam Reyneke, Lukhan Am and Gerbrandt Grobler.
“We’ve picked up some injuries, which will put us under pressure,” said Plumtree.
“It’s serious injuries now. It looks like our two loose forwards could be out for a while and Eben has come off with a concussion and we are going to monitor him.”
It’s a hammer triple blow for the Sharks who have a challenging run of fixtures over the festive season with a trip to Leicester followed by local derbies against the Bulls and Stormers in the United Rugby Championship.
Jaco Peyper breaks Springboks’ silence over controversial red card law
Tough festive schedule
The Sharks won the 2024 Currie Cup without many of their star men and Plumtree says that they will need to dip into their wider squad over the coming weeks as the injuries rack up.
“It’s been an expensive one,” the Sharks boss said of the win over Exeter.
“And now we’ve got to navigate a trip across to Leicester and then come back and play a tough Bulls side and then finish up with the Stormers.
“We are in for a big three weeks with a squad that is under a little bit of pressure with injuries.
“Now we are going to have to use some players in our wider group and we will see how good our squad is.”
As it happened: Siya Kolisi scores twice as the Sharks down Exeter despite poor discipline
The Sharks looked to be cruising to victory in the 56th minute when Kolisi grabbed his second try to put the hosts up 36-14 but yellow cards to Etzebeth, Emile van Heerden and Eduan Keyter in the final quarter made for a nervy finish for the side.
“The last 20 minutes became a bit of a circus for us. We were down to 12 at one stage and I thought we managed that last 10 minutes pretty well,” Plumtree added.
“We kept them out a couple of times and managed to get a bit of territory and we were hanging on. I will have a good look at why that happened and why we got into that situation.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/serious-injuries-rack-up-as-eben-etzebeth-adds-to-under-pressure-sharks-woes-after-expensive-victory
