Muller concern for Sharks

Posted by Boertjie - 12/07/09 at 10:07 pm under Currie Cup

The Sharks will be sweating over the fitness of skipper Johan Muller after he injured his arm during their First Round 15-29 loss to Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.

Muller went to ground straightaway while tackling Province flank Pieter Louw in the 62nd minute of the match which prompted the referee to stop play immediately.

The Bok lock’s injury will be assessed on Monday and if it is an arm fracture he could be sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Sharks coach John Plumtree says his side gave Western Province a seven-point headstart when Chris Jack scored a try a mere 22 seconds into the match.

Plumtree was speaking at the post-match media conference after his side suffered a 29-15 defeat.

“We gave them [WP] a seven-point start and as it turned out we were not able to recover,” said Plumtree.

Jack’s try came about after he charged down a Rory Kockett clearance at a loose scrum, five metres from the Sharks’ tryline.

As the ball bounced about Jack snatched the ball and dived over for  the first of Province’s two tries in the match.

“Our kicking game was not as long and accurate as theirs [WP] and in these [wet] conditions it was critical,” said Plumtree. “We were not able to build pressure, and we were not aggressive enough.

“We were not able to take the ball up, we were a bit rusty. We lacked penetration but we know what the weaknesses were.
  
“We did not get the yardage.”

Stand-in skipper, Keegan Daniel stressed that it was a disappointing way to start their Currie Cup title defence.

“Certainly not the way we wanted to start, we simply made too many errors in the end our discipline let us down in crucial areas and Province played a great kicking game that kept us pinned in our own half.”