Currie Cup
Sharks, WP coaches unhappy
2011-09-11 16:36
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Johannesburg - Sharks coach John Plumtree admits his side have not been as impressive this season as they were when they lifted the Currie Cup last year.
The title holders defeated the Pumas 33-20 in Durban on Saturday, scoring two late tries to snatch the win after the visitors had led 20-14 midway through the second half.
"It was pretty frustrating making that number of errors and getting turned over at breakdown," Plumtree said.
"We've certainly not reached the same heights in this Currie Cup compared to last year, so we'll have to keep working.
"At the moment it doesn't look like we can win the trophy back."
The Sharks were left trailing in third place in the standings with five games left, while the Pumas remained the only team in the competition without a win.
The log bottom Leopards, meanwhile, squandered a 14-3 lead, after scoring two early tries, and eventually went down 49-21 against a resurgent Western Province outfit in Cape Town.
"This was probably one of our worst starts and I have to say that I'm not pleased with this performance," said Province coach Allister Coetzee.
"We won with a bonus point in the end but [the performance] was not good enough.
"We seemed to be very quiet at the start and I will have to see why it happened."
Having replaced injured key players with fringe selections, Coetzee admitted the new combinations had not gelled.
"There are no excuses, it was just not good enough," he said.
"It was unnecessary to play in our own half.
"We'll have to be more disciplined and that's something we can get right."
Leopards coach Leon Boshoff believed his newly promoted team showed they could put up a fight, dominating proceedings for the first quarter of the match.
"For the first time in a very long time, we controlled the game," Boshoff said.
"Our defence was good after we started off so well.
"I was left afterwards with mixed feelings but this match showed we can be competitive."
Elsewhere on Saturday, a late charge from the Blue Bulls earned the visitors a 22-22 draw against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Bulls flyhalf Louis Fouche slotted a penalty on the stroke of full time to bag a valuable two points as the Pretoria side were left hovering in sixth place in the table.
Runaway leaders the Lions earned a solid 41-25 victory over Griquas at Ellis Park on Friday night to maintain a five-point gap over Province at the top of the standings.