It was with a wry smile that Sharks coach John Plumtree said on Friday that “if the Lions did not have our attention last week, they certainly have it this week”.
Plumtree had just announced his team to play the Lions in Durban in Saturday’ United Rugby Championship clash (2pm kick-off) after the latter side had smashed the Sharks 38-14 last week in Johannesburg.
“Monday was a tough day for everyone,” Plumtree said on Friday. “We were very unhappy with our performance. The Lions played well, but parts of our game were unacceptable, and we have been busy fixing it all up.”
Plumtree said that it was the manner of the defeat that hurt the most.
“It wasn’t that we lost, but how we lost. That is what upset us the most. It was about the type of effort that went into the performance,” he said.
“In fact, there was a lack of effort. The Lions played well, and kept to their plan of putting the ball behind us – but we allowed them to dictate.”
Plumtree said it was a “mystery” as to why the Sharks did not mentally turn up at Ellis Park, and he will hope for a change in fortunes in the return derby in Durban on Saturday.
“The mystery is the ‘why’. You look at the preparation, and you wonder if you could you have done things differently,” he said.
“Once you stop worrying about what happened and move on to remedying the situation, then your mind starts to settle.
“On the Sunday, I went through that, and then on Monday, it was about what we were going to do to fix it.
“The coaches bought it into it, and the players are eager to fix things. They are more disappointed than anyone.”