Sharks coach John Plumtree has admitted that he is in desperate need of front row cover, after promising prop Julian Redelinghuys suffered an ankle injury in the match against the Kings.

With Springbok loosehead Tendai Mtawarira already on the casualty list the Sharks' front row stocks are looking pretty thin and Plumtree said that he would have to find adequate cover fast.

He told the Sharks website: "It's another serious blow for us and for Julian personally, he's come back from a couple of injuries and got himself really fit. So it was disappointing for him that's for sure. We had four props before this game and now we've only got three, so it's a real blow. We'll certainly have to find ourselves another prop."

The Sharks boss also revealed that Bok wing Odwa Ndungane will probably not be available for the Sharks' big opening Super Rugby clash with the Bulls this weekend, but that is less of a worry as Plumtree has plenty of depth out wide.

 "Odwa might be battling to make the first game so someone else will come into contention. It's important that you have quality depth, we've had three injuries now and we haven't even kicked the ball off. Hopefully that will stop now and we'll have a run of luck with injuries," said Plumtree.

 The Sharks coach said that the match against the Kings was the ideal preparation for what should be a high-intensity game against the Bulls as it illustrated exactly where his team is lacking a week before the season starts.

He explained: "It was an excellent hit out for us, but the Kings exposed us in a couple of areas which gives us something to work on this week. We also played some really nice rugby, so I was really happy with it.

"Defensively we looked good and from an attacking perspective, we looked dangerous all over the park. The clean-out and breakdown work was solid and I thought we controlled the game really nicely," he added.

Plumtree was especially pleased with the way that the Kings took his side on up front, which is exactly what he is expecting the Bulls to do this weekend.

"It was exactly what we wanted for our preparations. The Kings forwards were good, they were big and heavy and tested us nicely. That's the sort of thing we're going to be faced with against the Bulls.

"They drove us a fair bit, we will be faced with that against the Bulls so we have some work to do in that department. In saying that, the forwards were generally good all over the field," he said.