Sharks pay for yellow cards, but gutsy show sees them through

acknowledged afterwards. “It looked like we weren’t going to get the rub of the green, and just as we were creating momentum, it was turned around either through a penalty or a silly mistake.

“But… it’s extremely tough to win in New Zealand, so the guys will take huge amounts of confidence from that performance.”

Once again, the Sharks had to overcome a numerical disadvantage when Jannie du Plessis and Frans Steyn were sent to the sin bin in the second half, but the team rallied on defence and effectively executed their tactical kicking game.

“It’s quite strange, I said to the players after the game, why do we keep having to play with 14 men,” White asked.

“We seem to almost relish it when the pressure is on like that, but the way we defended our line in that time when we were down by one man, those are the sort of things that you are really proud of as a coach. It shows that this team really has a lot of heart… it still takes a real effort to get out of that situation again.”

The Sharks looked to have struck the decisive blow when Cobus Reinach scored a crucial breakaway try just before the hour mark to extend the lead to 13 points, but the Blues hit back with a seven-pointer of their own to ensure it was a nervy finish.

“There wasn’t just anxiety for the final 10 minutes, it was there from the beginning,” White laughed.

“We all know how dangerous the Blues are. I always felt we needed to be two scores ahead to feel safe. There was also a sense that one of their backs could make a line break, off-load, and there’d be a try.

“We had led through the whole game, so the last thing we wanted to do was slip a tackle and lose the match after one lapse of concentration.”

Incredibly, though, it was the Sharks’ 10th successive win over the Blues.