Coach John Plumtree says the Sharks paid the price for not pitching up mentally against a hungry Lions outfit at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions scored six tries in their 38-14 victory, with the final scoreline flattering the Sharks, who crossed the line twice in the last two minutes.

“Obviously it wasn’t what we expected,” said Plumtree. “We’ve let ourselves down and our fans will be disappointed.

“We had a really good week physically [in training] but we didn’t nail it mentally,” he added.

“We will have to question our build-up mentally for this game. We’re not going to be a side like the Lions – who had to win today – if we’re not in the right space mentally.

“But all credit to the Lions. We knew it was going to be tough and they wanted it more.

“They won most of the collisions and just worked harder around the park. If you’re playing against a side like that and not in the same space [mentally], you’re going to come off second best, and badly.”

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Plumtree refused to blame the first-half rain, or the officiating, for his side’s defeat.

“They got 38 points and we got 14, so we can’t really moan about the conditions,” he said.

“I think a lot of those scrum [penalties] are 50-50 and went the Lions way. But we’ve got to be able to control that. It’s not criticism of the referee, we can’t blame him for that performance.

“We have to make sure – as players and management – that we learn from this and it never happens again this season. We still have high hopes of doing well and this is a massive wake-up call for us.”

The Sharks will have an immediate opportunity to make amends when they host the Lions next Saturday.

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“We’ll grieve this loss, it hurts,” added Plumtree. “We’ll have a good look at it and then build towards next week. But we’ll certainly be expecting a response from everyone.

“Our last three games have been away from home and we’ve got a home game next week, so we’re looking forward to playing in front of our fans again.

“A week’s a long time in rugby and this time next week, we can’t be feeling like this.”

Photo: Gallo Images