Carolan is putting defeat down to first-half failures

Sharks 40 Glasgow 12

DESPITE four of the five tries Warriors conceded coming after the break, stand-in head coach Nigel Carolan stated afterwards that it would be the team’s firsthalf failings against Sharks which would give him a sleepless night.

Warriors failed to capitalise on several promising opportunities during that opening period and ended up being blown away when their opponents brought a raft of 2019 World Cup winners off the bench for the final 30 minutes.

This loss stretches the team’s winless run on the road to nine league games and it was the heaviest of the three away defeats they have suffered so far in this United Rugby Championship season.

However, the Sharks are an impressive outfit when everything clicks and Carolan believes his team will draw confidence from their overall performance ahead of taking on the Lions in Johannesburg next Saturday.

‘We’re probably more disappointed with the first half than the second half because we had a plan to move them around and I think that only came to light in the 39th minute when we started to ask questions,’ he said, after watching the Sharks score three tries during the final quarter to run away with a decisive victory.

‘I thought we kicked too much in that first half when we wanted to ask questions of them with ball in hand. We knew that there was going to be an onslaught when the Sharks emptied their bench of all those internationals, and we didn’t have a cushion which we could protect.’

The Warriors line-out is usually a big strength but it failed to function yesterday, with giant Springbok Eben Etzebeth having a field day in the touchline battle.

‘There was six or seven opportunities in the first half which we didn’t get the momentum from that we would normally be able to work off,’ said Carolan. ‘So, you are trying to get it from phase attack and kick transition, and we certainly asked questions, but we couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard.

‘But I definitely think it was a step in the right direction in terms of that away form everyone is talking about.

‘I thought the mindset was right, I thought the energy was right, but I just thought the way we managed the game tactically in the first half was just a little bit off because we went away from the strategy.

‘The last 30 minutes might look like a capitulation but that’s going to come on the back of having so much of the game and not getting scores in the bank.

‘Then we started losing players to injury and shifting guys around, and it is really hard to keep any momentum against a top-class team like the Sharks in that situation.’

Warriors fell behind to a Boeta Chamberlain penalty but bounced right back to take the lead when Tom Gordon rampaged home from 40 yards.

Chamberlain struck again with another penalty and then Anthony Volmink streaked over after a sweeping back line move to give the hosts a half-time lead.

Warriors started the second half brightly with Gordon claiming his second try from a rare successful line-out drive, but the game swung away from them when Sharks cleared their bench, with Springbok captain Siya Kolisi alongside fellow 2019 World Cup winners Makzole Mapimpi and Bongi Mbonambi taking the field for the first time this season.

Volmink claimed his second, then Mbonambi, Aphelele Fassi and Werner Kok all crossed for the Sharks to secure a comfortable bonus-point win.

It is still not clear whether Warriors head coach Franco Smith’s visa will have been approved by Saturday to allow him to fly out to join the squad. If not, then Carolan — principally the team’s attack coach — will continue to deputise.

‘We know he’s at the end of the phone with his bags packed, waiting for the opportunity to get out here,’ said Carolan.

Winger Sebastian Cancelliere and No8 Matt Fagerson were late calloffs to this game due to mild sickness but are expected to come back into the frame to face the Lions.