DOWN and out Down Under.
That is the lot of the Sharks after they lost their third Super Rugby tour match in a row and their fifth consecutive game in the competition to effectively relegate them to also-ran status in this year’s competition.
Their race is pretty much run.
They have just five matches left and would need to get a maximum five points from each match if they hope to sneak into sixth spot.
It is not going to happen. They are not playing nearly well enough and have lost too many players to injury.
Yesterday they again capitulated in the first half to leave themselves too much to do in their inevitable second-half fight-back.
They, indeed, out-scored the Reds in the second half but when you are 29-3 down at the break, you need a miracle.
The Reds did not score a try in the second half.
They did not need to after scoring four in the first half an hour when the highly charitable Sharks gifted them turnover possession and then missed tackles when the Reds counter-attacked.
“I think we are just about dead now in the competition,” coach John Plumtree admitted.
“It has been a terrible season for us. We have had a number of half-time deficits to come back from, and at times it looked like we were heading for 50 points.
“We have had too many disruptions and lately have been in a downward spiral, and it has not helped that some senior players are not playing well while some of the youngsters are struggling a bit at this level.
“But you have to forgive them for that – it is their first campaign.
“We are going through some pain, but if we can withstand this pain, maybe we can still uncover some diamonds before the end of the competition.
“There will be Sharks fans out there thinking that there are not too many positives, but that is sport – sometimes it is a tough business,” the coach said.
Plumtree said that his team had hoped to go home with enough points in the bank to be able to launch an assault after the June break when a number of players will have recovered from injury, but conceded that the Sharks just don’t have enough points.
Regarding the match, the coach said his team had been “terrible” in the first half.
“You can’t give a side like the Reds that kind of turnover possession from unstructured play – they are deadly on the counter-attack.
“We gave them too much of that.
“The more they got, the more confident they grew and we could not help ourselves and kept on giving it to them.
“It was a terrible performance in the first half.
“In the second half, I was pleased with how we res-ponded. We made them do some work on defence and built some pressure.
“We started clawing our way back into the game but the deficit was too big for it to be a meaningful challenge.”
On their way to that 29-3 deficit at the break, the Sharks missed 17 tackles, which is unforgivable.
“Some individuals let themselves down big time,” Plumtree said.
“We had spoken about the importance of defence but one or two players are just out of form.
“Some things we can change but some we can’t because of injuries, so we just have to keep boxing on.”
By the end of the game, the Sharks had turned over the ball 20 times and the Reds just nine times, and that was reflected on the scoreboard.
Ironically, in their worst performance of their five-game losing streak, the Sharks suffered no injuries.
This morning they travel to Perth for their final tour game against the Western Force next Friday.
Reds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (29) 32
Tries: S Faingaa, Davies (2), A Faingaa
Conversions: Cooper (3)
Penalties: Cooper (2)
Sharks . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) 17
Tries: Lindeque, Minnie
Conversions: Lambie (2)
Penalties: Lambie - Saturday Star