Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree is pleased with the manner in which his side came back to down Ulster 22-19 at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, but insists there is still plenty to improve on with just two rounds of the URC to go.
The Springbok-laden XV were 19-0 down at one stage in the first-half before digging deep to ultimately grind out the win and become the first South African franchise to win a URC game in Belfast since the tournament began.
Said the Kiwi boss: “[It was] pretty much a game of two halves. We were pretty slow to start, just too many errors and we didn’t build enough pressure in the first half an hour. There were defensive lapses, we were chasing the game from pretty early on.
“But 10-minutes before halftime we started playing some better footy. A bit unlucky not to go 19-10 at the break, with a TMO decision which I thought was pretty rough.
“The second-half we continued where we left off [at the end] of the first-half and dominated the gainline. The boys’ confidence came up and we scored, and we thought we could get the game if we got the right amount of territory and possession.”
In spite of the result, Plumtree has stressed that there is still much for his team to work on if they want to go all the way in the competition.
“It was another great test for us around our ability to hang in the fight and just stay in contention for the win,” he said.
“Some real positives just around our willingness to win close games, but we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to win this championship. And that’s what we’ll endeavor to do when we get back home.”
The fourth-placed side complete their regular season duties with back-to-back home games against Ospreys (9 May) and Leinster conquerors Scarlets (17 May).
