Plumtree regrets Sharks' missed opportunities but praises Bulls' defence in their URC semi-final win

Sharks coach John Plumtree rued his team’s missed opportunities in Saturday night’s 25-13 loss to the Bulls in the URC semi-final but praised the Bulls for keeping his team out.

The Bulls are through to the final against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday.

“Overall, we were disappointed with our performance; we had plenty of opportunities to win the game,” Plumtree said. “With five minutes to go before half-time, we put the Bulls under pressure, they conceded two yellow cards, but we were not good enough to finish them off.”

Plumtree said that it should have been closer to 15-15 at half-time.  Instead, the Sharks were behind 15-3.

“After half-time, we felt that if we got our game going a bit more, and played a bit flatter on the gain line, we could up the pressure. We did that and scored a few nice tries.

“Later in the game, we were not good enough. Credit to the Bulls — their defence was outstanding, especially in defending their line. They had a massive crowd cheering them on, and that made it a pretty tough nut to crack tonight.”

Plumtree said the game lived up to the pre-game hype that it would be a  South African clash of giants.

“It was very physical out there. There were a lot of injuries. I hope Cameron (Hanekom) is not too badly hurt,” Plumtree said of an unfortunate sight of the Bulls' No 8 being taken off the field on a golf cart.

“It was great to see so many people here tonight. We get the best URC crowds here in South Africa.

“From my side, I have loved this season with the boys to get to this point, but we are disappointed that we have not kicked on.

“We had plenty of territory and plenty of ball, but we could not convert it into points. We have to congratulate the Bulls. They were pretty good, and we were just a little bit off tonight.”