Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree says his side will learn a lot from their topsy-turvy 30-36 loss to Connacht in their URC season opener at the Dexcom Stadium on Saturday.
The Durban franchise perhaps showed signs of fatigue in the second half after having beaten the Golden Lions to win the Currie Cup in Johannesburg the week prior, while Connacht had fallen to a narrow two-point defeat in round one to Munster in Limerick and were eager to earn their first win of the competition.
After conceding a converted try early on, the Sharks scored 27 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a massive 27-7 lead into the break, but a monster comeback from the hosts eventually saw them claw 29 points back to all but wrap up the game. A Siya Masuku penalty rescued a bonus point for the tourists at the death, but by then it was too little too late.
Siya Masuku slots a late kick for the Hollywoodbets Sharks as they earn a bonus point against Connacht 🎯👇#CONvSHA | #VURC pic.twitter.com/iMbCwC9Tkm
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 28, 2024
“We started pretty scratchy, and once we got our game going we were pretty good,” said Plumtree post-match. “We did some good stuff, built a good halftime lead, but after halftime it just really looked like we were low on energy. We got quite slow, we got cleaned out of the breakdown and physically it wasn’t quite there.
“Connacht got their tails up and they probably played a little bit differently in the second half. They kicked over the top of us and tried to cut through us, and the fact that we couldn’t stop their maul tries was a big part of the game.
“So we’ve just got to take our lessons. In this part of the world if we don’t get our breakdown right and we don’t get our set piece right then we’re gonna struggle. But we’ll learn from all of that and look forward to next week.”
The side next tackles Dragons at Rodney Parade in Newport.
