Plumtree: We must be better if we want to leave the tour with two wins

John Plumtree says his Sharks caught a ‘wake-up call’ after their nail-biting win over Edinburgh in the Scottish capital on Friday evening.

A try in the corner by winger Makazole Mapimpi banked the 18-17 victory, but for a long time in the game, it looked as if the Sharks were going to beat themselves.

Error upon error and some haplessness on the attack curbed any ambition to get their Springbok-laden backline away.

Thanks to some strong words in the changeroom and heroic defence in the second half, and then a pin-point touchline penalty kick by replacement flyhalf Siya Masuku at the death, the team was able to spark the match-winning score.

A maul from the lineout through the forwards set up the opportunity to attack via Masuku, who spread the ball to Mapimpi to send him soaring over in the corner.

Luckily for the visitors, the conversion kick was not one to claim the game and they walked off with a big victory in the ‘Biltong Series’.

A relieved Plumtree praised his side's character but said they never got going in the game.

“Edinburgh’s skillset came out brilliantly in these conditions, they were way better than ours,” Plumtree said in his post-match interview with Premier Sports.

“They came out and were more physical, dominated the gain line, and put us under the pump. I am pleased we got our game going a bit in the second half.

"We had some opportunities, and we missed kicks at goal with Jordan (Hendrikse) which he won’t be too happy about.

“But I am proud of the boys, it was tough at the end on the goal line there and Edinburgh could’ve sealed the game. We held on. Ethan Hooker’s holding up (of an attacker) over the line was massive and there were a couple of moments on defence that we nailed. That’s been the story of our season. We’ve lost some one-pointers and won some”

Hooker’s tackle, coupled with some strong efforts by Bok centre André Esterhuizen, where he held up about three players trying to drive towards the line, and a try-saving moment by loose forward Siya Kolisi bailed the team out.

Plumtree said they allowed Edinburgh too much momentum in the first half. The talk in changeroom was a hard one from some of the leaders on the side.

“We got our act together in the second half, but for us, it’s a bit of a wake-up call and we must be better than that if we want to leave this tour with two wins. It felt a bit like a pre-season hit out (with the injured players returning), and I do not want to make excuses.

“We have a lot of stars in our team, but Edinburgh was outstanding with their own stars. I think the expectation is that we just roll out this team that wins every week, but we must work for it. I am pleased we got this win under the belt. Hopefully, we will be better next week and carry this confidence into the next three matches.”