"I don't like losing," says Sharks coach John Plumtree

This string of losses is an ominous start for new coach John Plumtree, who claimed he had never endured such a torrid run as the man in charge, that is saying a lot. From Wales to Japan and down south to New Zealand, the experienced Kiwi has 26 years of coaching experience under the belt.

"I've never lost this many games in a row, it's new to me, I don't like losing," Plumtree told rugby365.com after the Sharks' narrow 13-12 loss in Durban on Saturday.

"We need to help them to fix it. On Monday we are our harshest critics. We're still not quite clinical enough. We played the most rugby tonight, and I'm quite proud about that because that's what I've come here to do. Our line-out didn™t function as good as it could've.

"I'm hurting, and I'm hurting mainly for the team because they're trying really hard and not getting any reward. They're a young group and it's really tough for them, and every week they're working and we're just not getting over the line. But we'll get there.

"I don't think there was anything wrong with our defence [against Connacht], they only scored one try and they normally score a lot more tries than that, so I think our defence was really good. Attacking-wise, we've just got to be more clinical."

While the Sharks did pick up a bonus point, they are firmly at the bottom of the URC table with just two points from their five outings. They next host the Dragons out of Wales on Saturday.

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