Sharks need to adapt and play well under pressure, says Powell

The Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell says his side needs to learn how to play well under pressure following Saturday’s defeat to Leinster

The Irish side dumped out the Durban outfit 35-5 in the quarter-finals of the United Rugby Championship in Dublin.

After the game, Powell said the game was lost due to the Sharks making crucial mistakes.

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“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.

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“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.”

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FIRST HALF YELLOW CARD COSTS SHARKS

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 try line but didn’t and that was a big momentum and mental swing,” Sharks boss said.

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“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.”

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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.

“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.

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“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.”

SA TEAMS NEED TO IMPROVE THEIR AWAY RECORD IN URC

Despite the challenges faced, Powell admitted that playing in this new competition was positive for South African rugby.

Having been knocked out of the URC Cup, the Sharks now turn their attention to the Currie Cup.