It was in the 79th minute, about 30-yards from the posts – while the scoreline read 10-7 to Leinster – when Sharks captain Siya Kolisi was given the tedious ultimatum of going for points or the corner.
A penalty kick, John Plumtree’s preference, would have secured a draw against the league leaders, but Kolisi wanted the win, opting to punt in hopes of scoring after the horn; a questionable decision during a game plagued by handling errors.
Shortly after the line-out, Leinster secured victory – in such a stop-start game a penalty appeared inevitable, and that’s exactly what ensued as the Irish giants held the ball up to force the referee’s whistle. Game over.
Plumtree talks Kolisi decision
Sharks coach, Plumtree, gave his thoughts on Kolisi’s call, saying, “I don’t like losing so I probably would’ve preferred to go for the posts, but it was Siya’s [Kolisi] decision on the field; he wanted to go for four points [for a win],” Plumtree revealed
“It cost us one point, Kolisi not doing it, but if we scored then there would be a different conversation.
“Frustrating that we got held up, the Irish are masters at stuffing your ball up in those types of moments. It’s feeling the moment, you know, and often the players feel different out on the park than what we feel in the coaches’ box. So, they felt like they could do it,” the Sharks coach added.
“Bongi scored off the back of a maul earlier, that would’ve still been on Siya Kolisi’s mind as well. We just didn’t execute it.”
“This game was a battle up front, a battle of two aggressive defences. Both sides made a lot of mistakes, but again, it just comes down to them taking one more opportunity on us.”
What would you have done?
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