Sharks coach John Plumtree admits frustration following another URC defeat

The Durban side were outsmarted by the on-form Stormers, who walked away 25-21 victors in the domestic derby at Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium.

READ: Stormers pile misery on Sharks with victory in Durban

Under-pressure coach John Plumtree assessed the game, admitting first his side's performance cost them the game as they failed to capitalise on attacking opportunities.

"I wasn't over-impressed with the Stormers' attack, they had heaps of ball in the first half and they scored with a cross-kick and kick over the top, but didn't really hurt us in phase [play] or their maul," said Plummer.

"But what they do well is they clearly knew that space was there for them, and they exploited that space, so I thought they were clear on that and tactically they were pretty good.

"They got one sniff in the second half and they went pretty much 70-75 metres to score that try, which was a really good try, and that was poor from us because we didn't get back to look after that.

"A big part of what I spoke about in the change-room [at half-time] – against quality teams, you've got to be good enough to execute those opportunities."

The Sharks have won just one game so far this season and currently prop up the log, with the Kiwi tactician expressing frustration as he pinned their misfortune on injuries to their key Springbok players.

"I just want us to get better and better, and improve. I think it's frustrating for me because I haven't had the opportunity to work with that full-strength pack that I need, especially in these big derby games," he added.

"I thought our boys tried real hard tonight, but there's a difference between our first group and our second group, and what we've got.

"The challenge for us is being able to do really well without our Springboks, or do well when we've got Springboks injured, and we've had a lot of those key players injured this year.

"So when we get them all back in, I reckon we're going to be a bit of a force, but we're not there yet, and it's probably going to be more like April that we get that."

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