Sharks’ Bok stars will be even better against the Bulls, says Plumtree

The Sharks may have annihilated the Dragons to get off the mark in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday, but coach John Plumtree says his team are still not where they should be.    

The impressive first victory of the URC season after five defeats from their first five games, running in 10 tries at Kings Park for a 69-14 win, was a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the showdown with Jake White and his bullish Bulls this weekend.    

The return of their World Cup-winning Springboks made a big difference and seemed to instil confidence in the other players who had held the fort since the beginning of the URC campaign.

“We were clinical for most of the game and finished off the opportunities we created, and that provided a bit of the scoreboard pressure [on the Dragons]. That’s what we needed, and our confidence grew a bit more,” Plumtree said after the game.    

“It was good to see the boys enjoy rugby out there tonight.”    

Player of the match Makazole Mapimpi was in scintillating form, Aphelele Fassi was in his element and speedy Grant Williams was hard to contain, scoring two tries off the bench.   

“I thought they were all great,” Plumtree said.    

“It’s not easy when you come from such a high like that [the World Cup win] and it’s someone who hasn’t played rugby for a while. So they were a bit rusty, a bit nervous but by the time they are hitting out next week they will be good.    

“But they were great during the week [in training] too and they just provided confidence for the rest of the group. They are coming back to a new coaching set-up. I suppose it has been a big week for them.    

“I think it’s the introduction of five or six world-class players [that made the difference]. With them coming in it was always going to be better. But you can’t underestimate how much the others have improved too.    

“If you look at the young locks and the guys who have played consistently, I thought our loose forwards all three were outstanding tonight, he said,” referring to James Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi and Sikhumbuzo Notshe.    

“Everyone has been working really hard in the past three weeks, but we’ve just not been getting rewards. We are still not where we want to be, and we are still not as clinical as we could be, especially in our own 22.    

“There’s still plenty to work on but at least Monday becomes a bit easier this week.”    

Saturday will provide a stern test for Plumtree and his men as they travel to Loftus Stadium to face an improved Bulls.    

White’s side have won four of their six URC outings and lost two. They have won both of their matches at home, making light work of Connacht (53-27) at the weekend.   

“It’s good for their [the Sharks players’] confidence that they have a win tonight,” Plumtree said. “We weren’t perfect [and] we know how tough it’s going to be next week.    

The Bulls “are playing well and they put away a side [Connacht] that we lost pretty easily to. We’ve got a lot of respect for that Bulls team and certainly it’s going to be a tough challenge.”    

The game against the third-placed Bulls will kick off at 3pm.