Sharks boss John Plumtree looking for silver linings in opening URC loss

The Durban franchise is missing a number of superstars due to injury and national duty. Despite this, the Sharks managed to show moments of quality against the former URC champions. The game was there for the taking with eleven minutes to go, but the hosts scored two late tries to seal the deal.

"There are some real positives," he Kiwi told the press afterwards.

"There were nine debutants, so there was obviously always going to be a challenge regarding some combinations and continuity in our game.

"But I couldn't fault the effort, couldn't fault the fight that we had, so I'm really proud of them in that respect.

"We were not very smart defensively at times, giving away penalties, and our lineout defence on the goal line wasn't where it needed to be.

"That probably came down to some players not knowing our game. But, you know, after 69 minutes we were in the game and they scored a try that probably put us away.

And then, at the end, it was just disappointing to get a couple of yellow cards and concede a penalty try on the goal line.

"There are some really nice learnings for us, some things that we can work hard on this week to improve our game and have a good week around the boys, just getting to know each other better."

The Sharks head to Wales next to face the Dragons, who are coming off a 42-21 loss to Ulster.

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