Sharks iron out final creases as they gun for top two spot

It won’t be an easy task, but if Sharks head coach John Plumtree wants to fulfil his goal of finishing in the top two on the United Rugby Championship (URC) table, then they will have to pull out all the stops in their final two league games.

Last week, Plumtree told media that the top two positions were important, and his coaches had informed their players of this. But they were also well aware of the need to take it one game at a time and the role of other results and permutations.

Though they beat Ulster 22–19 over the weekend, the Sharks are still fourth in the standings and five points short of the Bulls in third. A bonus-point win would be enough to close the gap, and it should be within their reach with home matches against 11th-placed Ospreys and seventh-placed Scarlets left.

Second-placed Glasgow Warriors are six points ahead but have tough away fixtures coming up against Benetton and table leaders Leinster. Many would put their money on Glasgow dropping points, especially against Leinster, who pummelled Glasgow 52–0 in the Champions Cup quarter-finals three weeks ago.

Combinations and return to form

Neither of the Sharks’ last two matches against Edinburgh and Ulster were perfect, but as any coach would say, getting over the line at the back end of the season is all that matters. They will take a victory, however it comes at this point.

In the build-up to the Ulster game, Plumtree was asked if his now-consistent squad selections comprising stars who had been injured before were where he wanted them in terms of combinations and skillsets. Not quite, he admitted.

“There’s still some nice competition for places in loose forwards,” Plumtree said.

Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams and lock Emile van Heerden were injured. Eben Etzebeth also pulled out of the Ulster game last minute due to flu. But all these players could be back in time for the playoffs.

Among the ‘loosies’, Siya Kolisi, Vincent Tshituka and Phepsi Buthelezi had been the first-choice trio this season, though Tinotende Mavesere earned man of the match against the Bulls in February and James Venter, Manu Tshituka and Nick Hatton had also played well.

Sharks target areas for improvement

Plumtree also said returning star players hadn’t quite warmed up and would need some more time to find their feet again. Springbok fullback Aphelele Fassi certainly had a better game against Ulster than he did against Edinburgh.

“Scrums are going well, line-outs are going well, but how we control the game hasn’t gone well. That has gone a lot down to our drivers,” Plumtree said.

He said the Sharks had failed to take their opportunities at times, though they had closed out well enough against Edinburgh and Ulster.

“Some of our goal line defence, Joey (defence coach Joey Mongalo) has been working hard on that space. I thought it was real quality,” the coach added. “And how efficient we are at scoring when we are in opposition 22 – we’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on that as well.”