Sharks have an 'energy' problem

09/29/2024 02:50 AM

REACTION: Sharks head coach John Plumtree believes his team lacked the energy needed to see Connacht off in their Rugby Championship clash in Galway on Saturday.

The South Africans were in a commanding position at half-time with the score reading 27-7 in their favour, but they were blown away in the second half with the home side eventually recording a 36-30 victory.

The Irish side scored four unanswered tries in that second 40 and after the game, Plumtree admitted that his team fell short in several areas of the game.

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"We started pretty scratchy and once we got our game going, we were pretty good," said Plumtree.

"We did some good stuff and we built a good half-time lead.

"After half-time, it looked like we were low on energy and we got quite slow.

"We got cleaned out at the breakdown and the physicality wasn't quite there.

"Connacht got their tails up and they probably played a little bit different in the second half. They kicked over the top of us and tried to come through us."

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Plumtree added: "That fact that we couldn't stop their maul tries was a big part of the game, so we just got to take the lessons in this part of the world.

"If we don't get our breakdown and set-piece right then we are going to struggle.

"We will learn from all of that and look forward to next week."

The Sharks will now head to Wales where they will face the Dragons in Round Three of the URC.

@rugby365com

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