John Plumtree praises Sharks’ fight in loss to Glasgow

Sharks coach John Plumtree praised his players for the way they battled against Glasgow Warriors, saying they were not intimidated by playing at Scotstoun Stadium.

The Durban side suffered a 21-10 defeat on Friday night at the hands of Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors, who are second on the United Rugby Championship points table with 53 points. 

The Sharks went into the clash without their regular players, giving their fringe players game time. Visiting Glasgow without their internationals was always going to be a tough task for the Sharks.

Glasgow scored three converted tries through George Horne, Max Williamson and Kyle Steyn in the first half with the Sharks responding with a try from Dan Jooste to make the score 21-5 at halftime.

The Sharks put on a brave performance in the second stanza, getting the only try through prop Ntutchuko Mchunu and denying their hosts a bonus point score.

‘We weren’t intimidated’

 Reflecting on the game, Plumtree was proud of how the Sharks fronted up against a strong Glasgow side.

“Proud of the boys’ effort, they showed me they weren’t intimidated in that environment which is obviously a fortress for them,” Plumtree said.

 “A lot of boys haven’t played for a while, so we looked very rusty, particularly in that first 25 minutes.

“Scrum sets let us down around the pressure zones like the tackle area, we couldn’t capitalise on some of the territory we did get in the second half. However, I was really impressed with our defence, we really swamped them. I’m really proud of that effort,” he said.

The Sharks coach was pleased to see the players play as a unit.

“The big thing for us was playing for 80 minutes, we didn’t think we would be a cohesive side because this team hadn’t played together but we were really great effort,” Plumtree said.

‘Great start to tour’

Despite losing the game, Plumtree said it was a good start to their three-week tour in Europe which includes two URC games and a Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Clermont in May. 

“Great start to our tour even though we lost,” he said.

 “Some guys put their hands up, we look forward to the rest of the Sharks boys joining us today in Wales and had a good week looking forward to the Scarlets game,” Plumtree said.

Next for the Sharks in the URC is a showdown against Welsh side Scarlets on Friday night.