Scarlets clash shaping up as red-letter day for Sharks after URC home defeat to Ulster

A frustrated John Plumtree has called on his Sharks to “reset” quickly after their 34-26 defeat against Ulster in Durban on Saturday, admitting that both players and coaches must take responsibility for the team’s poor start to the United Rugby Championship season.

The result at Kings Park leaves the Sharks near the bottom of the table, and with only a week before they face the equally struggling Scarlets, Plumtree said there was little time for excuses.

“Monday is the most important day for us,” he stressed.

“It’s not about next week, it’s about Monday — and then we can start building. We’ve only got seven days to get right for the Scarlets, so for me, Monday is just massive.”

Plumtree acknowledged that the recent reintegration of several returning Springboks has been challenging, with the squad struggling for rhythm and cohesion after a disrupted start to the campaign, having collected just three points from their first four matches. Thirteen Springboks started against Ulster.

“If you look at all the Springboks that have come back into the team, it’s always been a tough start,” he said. “They’re all a little bit rusty. But again, we can go into the excuses space — and we’re not going there.”

“We knew what we needed to do tonight and that was get five points to get back into this competition. To get one is not good enough. The boys are hurting in the changeroom and they know they’re better than that.”

The Sharks were slow out of the blocks and paid the price for early defensive lapses and poor discipline in the second half, including two yellow cards that killed momentum just as they were clawing their way back from a 20-5 half-time deficit.

“We only had two days to get ready for this game and we prepared as well as we could, or as well as we thought we could,” Plumtree said.

“We had a good plan and we knew what we needed to do, but we didn’t execute it. We started slowly, gave them too big a start, and the discipline in the second half really hit us. We were coming back into it and then it became probably mission impossible, really.”

Asked whether the Sharks’ problems came down to player performance or coaching, Plumtree was candid.

“Everyone is working hard. Whether we’re doing the right thing or not, I don’t know,” he admitted.

“No one shone out there for us. Collectively and individually, we weren’t good enough. Basically, no one deserved to be singled out in that performance.”

With just one more fixture before the November international break, the Sharks face a race against time to find cohesion and confidence.