Sharks must show more accuracy against Lions
Though Sharks coach Sean Everitt praised the character of his team, he is demanding more accuracy in their setpiece play against the Lions on Saturday.
Everitt’s team escaped with a narrow 33-30 win over the Stormers in their opening Rainbow Cup game, but he knows improvement is required if the Sharks want to stay on the winning track.
The Sharks made a slow start against the Stormers and were left with dust in their faces after the Cape Town side raced into an early 17-0 lead.
“We are not happy with our performance but we will gladly take the result,” Everitt said.
“It is the sign of a good team when you don’t play well but you still win, but we need to play better than that.”
“I think it says a lot about how well-conditioned the guys are that they kept the Stormers out for the last 20 minutes of the game,” Everitt said.
“We had no possession and could only defend, especially those driving mauls close to our line.
“But we are a performancedriven team and that was not the performance we had planned.”
Everitt praised the character his team showed when the pressure was on.
“We have created a positive environment for the players, and they respect that and their work ethic can’t be questioned,” he said.
“Our set-pieces were not good, particularly the line-out early on, and we gave away penalty after penalty.
“That put us under scoreboard pressure, but we found a way.
“The guys moved the ball nicely in the second half.”
Everitt said there would be an emphasis on set-piece drills in the build-up to the Lions clash.
“We knew we would be coming up against quite a few Boks in the Stormers pack, so the set pieces were always going to be an upward battle, but we have to be better than that.
“Hats off to our forwards, though, for ultimately keeping the Stormers pack at bay.
“Those three tries Reniel Hugo scored were a big turning point.
“Reniel put in a very good performance generally all around the field.
“His work rate was very high, and that is why we brought him to the Sharks.
“His quick tap for one of his tries showed good game appreciation because we wanted to avoid set-pieces.”
The Stormers had two players — Seabelo Senatla and Willie Engelbrecht — red-carded against the Sharks.
However, thanks to the red card replacement rules, the Stormers had 15 men on the field compared to the 14 of the Sharks at the end.
That was after Jeremy Ward was yellow carded late in the game.
Everitt, however, endorsed the law changes after the match.
“Especially early in the game when you concede a red card, it’s always going to be tough to try and make a spectacle out of the game,” he said.
“I don’t think those players [Senatla and Engelbrecht] intentionally went in.
“With Seabelo Senatla, I don’t think that was intentional from him.
“It was probably careless, and he’ll learn from that.
“We know he’s a good rugby player and he’s not a malicious person at all.
“At the end of the day the rules are there and the fact that a team can make do and change on a red card after 20 minutes, I think is a good idea in hindsight.”