Cell C Sharks Head Coach Robert du Preez was pleased with the bonus point victory over the Sunwolves in a hot and humid National Stadium in Singapore on Saturday.
Thanks to a late flurry of tries, we were able to score a significant victory and a statement of intent in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition.
“We are obviously very happy with the bonus point win, that’s our first bonus point for the year,” said du Preez after the match.
The six tries to two, 38-17 victory kept us in the hunt for a place in the play-offs. We now have 38 points, 14 clear of the Jaguares who have a game in hand, but will need to win all four of their remaining pool matches and hope we slip up in our remaining three. The Blues, on 31 points, are also in wild card contention, but lost to the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday, putting a dent in their hopes of making it through to the next round.
Following the disappointment of the result against the Kings in Port Elizabeth the previous weekend, there was plenty of talk from within the Cell C Sharks’ camp to deliver a rousing performance against the team from Japan, and the result suggests we gave just that.
“I’m really pleased with the guys’ intent on attack,” said the coach. “We got our campaign back on track.”
Three tries in the last six minutes not only delivered the bonus point (for scoring three or more tries than the opposition), but also showed our capacity to finish strongly and to maintain pressure right to the end. This has been a hallmark of the play delivered by the New Zealand’s teams and something much talked about in recent weeks about fitness.
“I thought the guys played right to the end and showed a lot of composure,” he said.
“I’m still not happy with a whole lot of opportunities we didn’t take, but it is getting better.”
He added that the Cell C Sharks are back at home for our last three games of the pool stages of our campaign before the qualifiers.
We host the Stormers at Growthpoint KINGS PARK this weekend before breaking for the June international test window, with games against the Bulls (30 June) and the Lions (15 July) to come thereafter.
The post Back on Track appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
Fill in the form below to have your blog featured on MyDurban – we will post a snippet and title link to your new blog posts.
Submit and get free press releases here: MyPR Free Press Release | Meet the Durban Bloggers.
