Plumtree doesn’t mind Sharks losing to ‘a side that plays better on the day’

Pleased Sharks coach John Plumtree has pleaded with his players to maintain consistency as they head into another derby on the back of their convincing win in the Challenge Cup.

The Sharks returned to winning ways on Saturday when they thumped French side Pau 45-5 at Kings Park in Durban.

That was the response Plumtree expected from his players after their 44-10 defeat to the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship (URC), which left him utterly disappointed.

“It was a pretty tough week after the Bulls games. Monday was a pretty tough day for the players and all we could do was to respond in a positive way,” a gratified Plumtree said.

“We weren’t sure which Pau side was going to come, but it didn’t really matter. We had to focus on ourselves.

“I put a lot of heat on the [team] leaders to really step up and run the week. I thought all the main leaders we have on the team were great [during the week], and really good out there tonight. I thought that was really pleasing to see.

“Our focus switched to the efforts we wanted our players to put in. We felt we were never really in the race at Loftus and that was mainly through things we could control.

“I thought our set-piece defence was poor. We didn’t really make the Bulls work for their tries.

“We looked at that. I don’t mind getting beaten, but I would rather be beaten by a side that plays better rugby on the day.

“We gifted the Bulls too many points, so we looked at our efforts and we wanted to improve on that.”

Most of the Sharks' leadership figures stepped up including player of the match Eben Etzebeth and Lukhanyo Am, who scored two tries apiece. Marnus Potgieter and Makazole Mapimpi were also on the scoresheet.

For their second match of the Challenge Cup, the Durban franchise travel to Bloemfontein to face the Cheetahs in a South African derby at Free State Stadium on Sunday (3pm).

Before the Sharks’ heavy defeat to the Bulls they had annihilated the Dragons in the URC and Plumtree wouldn’t want history to repeat itself against the Cheetahs as his team seeks consistency.

“It goes back to being another derby game in Bloemfontein. They [the Cheetahs] had a good win [against Zebre Parma], so it’s going to be a challenge for us.

“We’ve got to maintain that level of consistency. It's not about the result, it’s about how we play, and the result will always look after itself.

“We will get our week right, we’ve got a nice eight-day turnaround with a Sunday kickoff.”

The Cheetahs defeated Zebre 33-15 in their opening match of the Challenge Cup in Italy on Saturday.