Sharks coach: 'We don't want to feel like this again'
REACTION: Sharks head coach Sean Everitt is concerned about his team’s “mental approach” in games after they suffered a 27-37 defeat to Griquas in Durban on Saturday.
It was another big scalp for the men from Kimberley after they recorded wins against the Cheetahs, Western Province and the Lions in previous rounds.
The win in Durban was even more impressive as they overcame no less than five yellow cards – two back-to-back in the first half and a trifecta in quick succession in the second stanza – to avenge their 16-30 first-round loss to the KwaZulu-Natalians back in June.
“It is extremely disappointing because we were at home and we were dying to play at home,” said Everitt.
“For the last few weeks, we had a couple of home games that were cancelled.
That’s the nature of the game and sport can be cruel. One week you can be right up there and you get a five-pointer in Bloem [against the Cheetahs] and then you come home and put in a disappointing performance.
“When I say a disappointing performance, I am talking about all the opportunities that we created and we couldn’t finish.
“We need to have a look at ourselves – the coaches as well as the players – and see if we could have done any better in terms of preparation.
“The team prepared well. We knew the plan and the fact that we created opportunities means we were on song. But I think we got to look at our mental approach.
“We can’t have an opposition team getting five yellow cards and we are unable to convert that pressure.”
Once again set-pieces are a concern for the Sharks coach.
“When we had ascendancy from a numbers point of view, I thought maybe we would dominate in the set-piece and it was disappointing that we didn’t.
“We had a few opportunities to maul close to the tryline and we weren’t able to convert there and obviously the scrums as well.
“We need to keep working on our set-piece.
“Although it has improved since the Rainbow Cup, the performance was disappointing for the team and we don’t want to feel like this again,” he added.
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