"I was proud of the way the boys hung in there," Plumtree told The Sharks website, after a last-minute penalty from scrum-half Rory Kockott secured a 28-25 victory over Western Province.
"We've had a launching pad and now is the time to get stuck in. I'm proud of the way we came back. We were 13 points down, under the cosh, but came back well."
Plumtree's men face the Lions in Durban on June 10, with the Kiwi having already led a side against the tourists during their trip to New Zealand three years ago.
Plumtree was in charge of NPC outfit Wellington when the Lions won 23-6 in front of a crowd of 38,500 at the Westpac Stadium on June 15 2005. He will no doubt be hoping that the Currie Cup campaign provides The Sharks with the necessary platform to ensure that he doesn't suffer successive defeats when his side take on the Lions this time next year.
"If you look at last year's Absa Currie Cup, we had shorter period to work with and we looked like disorganised rabble in that first game. This year was better.
"We have a few things that we need to work on. I was happy with our scrum, but a lot was going on there, a lot for the referee to control. We also have a fair bit to do with our phase play, but I am pretty happy with our defence. It's a starting point, we just need to keep building."
That win for The Sharks sees them occupy fourth spot in the Currie Cup standings, a point behind leaders Boland Cavaliers and level with the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs.
Boland overturned a 36-17 half-time deficit to run out 48-42 winners over the Valke at Bosman Stadium with a hat-trick of tries from wing John Daniels playing a major part in their success. The Cavaliers scored four other tries against former Cardiff coach Rudi Jubert's men, who crossed for five scores of their own to ensure they took two bonus points from an entertaining fixture.
The Blue Bulls beat the Lions 21-7 while the Free State Cheetahs won 20-16 at the Wildeklawer Griquas in the other fixtures from the opening weekend of the competition.
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