Speaking after Leinster had knocked the Cell C Sharks out of the URC, Director of Rugby Neil Powell pointed to the way the Irish side put pressure on their opponents and never relent to force mistakes and then capitalise on those.
“Leinster are a quality team and they get on top of you when you make any mistake and then punish you for that. In their last few games, we’ve seen how they put pressure on their opponents to concede yellow cards. In the previous four matches, they pressured their opponents into conceding seven yellow cards, so we knew coming into this match that they play that kind of pressure game that forces you to make mistakes and then concede yellow cards, and they did that to us.
“It was frustrating conceding those yellow cards, but that’s an indication of what a good team they are. They get on top of you and stay on top of you and then capitalise on your mistakes. We definitely felt that in this game.”
Having opened the scoring early on, there were encouraging signs from the Cell C Sharks, but Leinster were brutal in the way they took charge of the game and never allowed the Durban side to reduce the scoreboard pressure.
“Rugby is a game of momentum and positive energy and if you take your opportunities, it gives you positivity and a bit of momentum. We had that opportunity to score 5m from their tryline but didn’t and that was a big momentum and mental swing.
“Again, just before half-time, we had another opportunity and didn’t take it, and that’s what makes Leinster such a good team, they take those opportunities. Unfortunately we couldn’t.
“And then conceding that yellow card and two tries during that period which is always going to be tough with 14 men against a quality side like Leinster.”
Powell admitted that his team – and the three others from South Africa – will have to adapt in the future to the travel schedule in the competition. Purely from a numbers game, there is no other way around the fact that they have more intercontinental travel than the other 14 teams.
“The travel has been tough, on all the South African sides, and we knew coming to Dublin to beat Leinster would not be easy.
“Where the European teams only travel to South Africa once, we’ve come to the northern hemisphere four or five times in the competition which makes it tough.
“But we knew that coming into the competition, we would obviously like a more even playing field, but we just have to make it work, that’s what South Africans are known for. I think they are looking at it to see how they can make it better for the South African sides.
“But one of the lessons we learned from this competition, if you want to play in the knock-out stages, you have to play at home and that means being a lot better during the group stages to make sure you finish higher up on the log.”
Despite the challenges faced, Powell admitted that playing in this new competition was a positive for South African rugby.
“This competition is really good for South African rugby, we face a different style every weekend, the same with playing in the Heineken Cup, you’re also facing different brands and styles of rugby. With us coming to Europe and playing in different conditions we didn’t really face in Australia or New Zealand, we’re using our own conditions in South Africa to our advantage.
“I think it is great for South African rugby but I think we’ll only know for sure after the Rugby World Cup!”
The post The Pressure Game appeared first on The Sharks.
There was no intimidation for the Cell C Sharks in their Currie Cup clash with the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus on Saturday evening as they ran out deserved 41-27, six tries to three victors away from home.
It was a demoralising loss for the home side whose forwards were dominated, where their home ground failed as a fortress, and where they managed to put together sustained efforts at times but were unable to capitalise against simply sublime defence.
For the Cell C Sharks, this was a deeply satisfying victory against the old foe. It came off the back of a superb forward effort, a near perfect, 80 minute, dominant performance.
The Bulls struck first blood with a penalty inside the opening five minutes, but a dominant scrum and subsequent penalty allowed the Cell C Sharks to equalise thanks to Lionel Cronje’s effort from 40m out.
The Bulls pulled ahead with a second penalty as the game approached the quarter hour mark, strangely opting for the points rather than the line from the Cell C Sharks 22.
The Bulls then lost a player to the sin bin for foul play and at the ensuing penalty kicked to touch, the Cell C Sharks mauled their opponents, reduced to 14 men and unable to stop the juggernaut that powered Dan Jooste over the tryline. Cronje converted and the Durban side held the lead in the 20th minute.
The Bulls were made to pay for their indiscipline, still at a numbers disadvantage, they conceded their second try, another penalty kicked to touch, the ball mauled up and then a number of pick-and-drive efforts finally saw Khwezi Mona diving over the defence to score, Cronje extending his team’s lead to 17-6 with just under 15 minutes of the half remaining.
Five minutes later, the Bulls were back in the game with a TMO-referred try that stood, the conversion cutting the lead to just four points, but with barely a handful of minutes remaining in the half, the Bulls conceded another yellow card. Their cynical play metres short of their tryline was once again punished as the Cell C Sharks struck immediately, again Dan Jooste scoring off the back of a dominant rolling maul for a 22-13 lead.
The Bulls had a late opportunity to score but could not make it work for them against some outstanding defence from the visitors and there was no further change to the scoreline as the teams headed for the changerooms.
The second half started well for the Bulls insofar as they managed a 13-phase attack in the midfield which showed good intensity but little in the way of forward impetus, before Murray Koster snatched an intercept and ran in for the bonus point try inside the opening five minutes, the conversion from Fred Zeilinga pushing his team 16 points ahead.
The Bulls spent the next 10 minutes dominating possession and territory, but could not make the advantage work in their favour as this Cell C Sharks character-driven defence continues to be a hallmark of their play – and recent success.
The Bulls pack continued to be on the back foot trying to defend the rolling maul, conceding more than 20m earlier than the next one that resulted in the try that pushed the Cell C Sharks into a commanding, 36-13 lead, with replacement hooker Dameon Venter scoring and Cronje converting with a quarter of an hour remaining.
The Bulls continued to hammer away at a concrete wall of defence, but turning possession into points proved nigh impossible until they finally sent the ball out wide, having found no way through the middle to score with just over five minutes remaining and reduce the scoreline to 36-20 in the Cell C Sharks’ favour.
Celimphilo Gumede rounded out a most enjoyable performance from the Cell C Sharks, his fellow forwards mauling the ball up before the replacement loose forward found himself out wide and he dived over in the corner for a 21 point lead.
The Bulls delivered a high tempo effort right at the death to score their final try with a minute remaining, scant consolation in a game where they were dominated at their own home ground.
The Cell C Sharks had come to Pretoria with
The post Dublin Disappointment appeared first on The Sharks.
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