Sharks' character got them home
Sharks coach Brad McLeod-Henderson praised his team for the character they showed to sneak past the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld despite two yellow cards.
The Durban side snatched a tense 18-16 victory on Friday with a late Butch James penalty, and Macleod-Henderson said that he was impressed with the way his side hung in there under pressure.
"I am delighted with the win, I think we played pretty well in the first half, if a few more passes stuck then we would have been in for a few more tries," Macleod-Henderson said.
The win saw the Sharks secure a home semifinal, and their battle with Western Province at Kings Park next week should decide which team ends the league phase of the competition on top of the standings.
Macleod-Henderson said that he hopes to take some momentum from the gutsy win over the Bulls into their table-topping clash next week.
"There are a few areas we still need to work on but we've got some nice momentum going now and we are looking forward to Western Province next week," he said.
While the Sharks pulled through for a victory, they made hard work of it as they conceded two yellow cards either side of the break with Jacques Botes and Jean Deysel receiving their marching orders.
Macleod-Henderson said he was nevertheless proud of his charges for winning a tight match despite the two yellow cards.
"There were a few opportunities that didn't go our way and if they had, then we would have been very happy with the result," he said.
"It just shows the character of the guys, two yellow cards and we still got a very tight win.
"Discipline was an area that didn't work well for us tonight but it is something we will look at this week," he added.
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