Sharks coach laments red card in Cardiff loss, but they are still in the war

With the Durban franchise preparing for their biggest clash of the season in the Challenge Cup final next week, Plumtree rolled out a matchday 23 that featured no less than four debutants against Cardiff.

Unfortunately, dynamic flanker forward Timo Mavesere would cop a straight red card after a high tackle in just the 20th minute, which Cardiff capitalised on. 

"The red card had a massive effect on the game," Plumtree told rugby365.com.

"We were one forward short against a really big Cardiff pack. We conceded a couple of pretty soft tries and that brought the scoreboard pressure. From then on, we were always going to struggle a bit.

"I was really pleased with the second half. We got ambitious and we moved the ball a little bit more and attacked in the wide channels and tried to do something a little bit different.

"However, on the day we weren't quite good enough and there are quite a few guys in the squad that haven't played in a while.

"I am disappointed for the boys. They wanted to do a bit more than that, but with 15 against 14 for 60 minutes, it was never going to be an easy task against a URC team."

While the Sharks went down 14-36 in the URC battle, they are still in the war. They face Gloucester in the Challenge Cup final in London on 24 May.

READ MORE: Cardiff ease past 14-man Sharks in United Rugby Championship encounter