Sharks boss John Plumtree heaps praise on French giants

An injury-hit Sharks team were without the likes of Springboks Eben Etzebeth, Aphelele Fassi, Grant Williams, Grant Esterhuizen and Lukhanyo Am when they went down 20-8 to reigning Champions Cup holders Toulouse in Durban on Saturday.

Both teams played with plenty of endeavour and the game was a bit loose at times, but the star-studded Toulouse converted their opportunities to remain unbeaten in their title defence.

"You can see they are a class outfit," Plumtree told the press.

"Just the way they can apply pressure not just through their defence and setpiece, but their continuity play, attack and the ability to keep the ball alive is what makes them so dangerous.

"We just couldn't hold on to the ball for long enough to apply the pressure that we needed to. We were a bit loose which is a bit disappointing for me.

"We talked about it at halftime, if we can hold onto the ball for longer periods and put them under pressure. I think we did that in the last 20 minutes and they started defending.

"So proud of the effort just not accurate enough."

Plumtree is all to aware of thhe sqaud depth required to compete in the upper echelons of the Champions Cup and United Rugby Championsip simultaneuously.

"To do well in URC and Champions Cup you need a quality squad," added the Kiwi.

"We are building towards that, but it is something that we will work on over the years."

The Sharks now travel to the undefeated Bordeaux for their clash on 19 January, where they need at least one point to advance to the Round of 16. 

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