Sharks need to find silver linings in rugby playbook

Silver linings may seem hard to find for the Sharks in the wake of another United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat, but this is perhaps the perfect juncture to locate it in their playbook.

The ominous clouds under which they took on the Stormers grew darker by full time in their 25-21 defeat in Durban on Saturday, and coach John Plumtree readily owned up to the deficiencies still afflicting his team.

“Our boys tried real hard,” said Plumtree. “But there’s a difference between our first group and second group in what we’ve got. That’s a real challenge for us. We need to do well without our Springboks.

“We’ve had a lot of key players injured this year. If we can get more of them back, I reckon we will be a force. But we aren’t there yet. We will get there,” Plumtree said defiantly after their ninth defeat from 10 starts in the URC.

Until he can bed down a ball-in-hand approach with which his team is comfortable, the Sharks may have to employ a more direct and unashamedly confrontational approach. They made inroads when they adopted that approach, but the Stormers, the defending SA Shield champions, won the day by being the more cohesive unit.

Plumtree certainly recognises the qualities hard-wired into the coastal rivals. While he still needs to implement a system with which his team is comfortable, the Stormers, almost irrespective of who is on their team sheet, are on the same page.

“The Stormers, where they are right now as a team, is where we want to be,” said Plumtree. “They worked really hard defensively.

“We created a couple of opportunities, but we didn’t finish them off. They scrambled back and were able to stop us. That’s why they are where they are. It’s a tough outfit.

“I’m just happy we never gave up. We came back into the contest at the end. I just want us to get better and better and improve. It’s frustrating for me, because I haven’t had the opportunity to work with our full-strength pack, especially in these big derbies.”

With the Sharks still occupying bottom spot on the URC points table, a playoff spot now seems unlikely. They do, however, have an opportunity to shoot for something meaningful through the Challenge Cup.

“When you get to that quarterfinal stage, everyone wants to win it. So it will be a tougher competition. Teams are also dropping down from the Champions Cup. If we get through a tough quarterfinal here, if we get that opportunity, then we have a tough semifinal and final.

“I’m trying not to stare too much into the crystal ball. I’m not worried about the Challenge Cup right now. The more immediate things to pay attention to are our recruitment, learning more about our players and coaches, and letting them learn more about me.

“I’m not making excuses here, but everything about this season has been about jumping into a cold bath. We’ve been working with a new coaching team, us getting to know each other, there have been a lot of injuries, the World Cup Springboks have come back late. So it’s been tough logistically for many reasons. It will be easier next year.”

The Stormers, by contrast, have much to look forward to in their immediate future. They play the Bulls at Loftus in a fortnight with SA Shield honours very much up for grabs. That match now looms large.

“If we didn’t win, that would have been the end of us hosting anything later on in the tournament. It was important to stay in touch with the Bulls,” said coach John Dobson.

In fact, wins for the traditional rivals this weekend have greatly elevated the significance of their clash at Loftus in a fortnight.

“There will be a lot of passion and it will be a great occasion. As much as the anxiety will get me closer to the game, it will be brilliant for SA rugby.”

Dobson admitted some head-scratching would be unavoidable when he assembled his squad for Loftus. He said there were “some good performances” by so- called second-string players.

“Loose forwards will be a challenge, with guys like Willie Engelbrecht, Deon Fourie — and at lock Salmaan [Moerat] will give us a headache.

“A guy like Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] is a generational-type player. Wandi [Simelane], though he only had 20-odd minutes, will be hard to overlook.”

World-beating tighthead prop Frans Malherbe should be available for the clash against the Bulls, Dobson added.