Sharks produced 'absolute nonsense' says Kolisi
SPOTLIGHT: The Sharks are ready to right the wrongs in the Champions Cup after their poor performance against the Scarlets in Llanelli in the United Rugby Championship last weekend.
The Durban-based side, who were boosted by their top Springboks for the clash in Wales, looked disorganised for large parts of the game and they eventually fell to a 20-32 defeat.
They now have the huge task of trying to knock over Munster in their Champions Cup Round of 16 clash in Durban and captain Siya Kolisi gave a blunt assessment of his team’s performance in Wales.
“I just thought we weren’t good as a unit. You could see we haven’t played together as a unit,” said the Sharks loose forward.
“A couple of players had good moments, but as a team, we just didn’t do well.
“We were not happy at all with the standard and it was absolute nonsense that we put out there.
“We are really disappointed in ourselves and it is one of those games where you just have to make peace with it.
“Nothing went our way and we didn’t work hard enough to take the opportunities that we created.
“Before we left [Wales], we said we got to leave it [the performance] there and come here with a different mindset and attitude in a different competition.”
The story continues below…
#⃣ICYMI Two @rugbyworldcup-winning @Springboks will go head-to-head in the #SharkTank on #Saturday #Rugby 🏉#RugbyUnion🌍@ChampionsCup 🏆#SHAvMUN🇿🇦V🇮🇪
🔗https://t.co/rpNQK3ldee pic.twitter.com/mhDjopqHY8— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) March 29, 2023
After that dismal showing in Wales, Kolisi believes his team is even more motivated to give their fans something to cheer about against Munster at Kings Park.
“Each individual has to be better,” said Kolisi.
“We also disappointed our supporters.
“We want to make sure that we put in a much better performance against a strong side like Munster, who have done well in this competition.
“We are definitely motivated. Also, it’s a play-off and if you lose then you are out.
“We want to make sure that we put in a proper performance and give ourselves a chance to go to a quarterfinal.”
Munster will be heading to Durban with several internationals, which includes Bok lock Rudolph Snyman. For Kolisi, the Irish giants will provide his team with one of their toughest challenges of the season.
“They are an amazing side. They attack very well and they hold onto the ball longer than most teams in the competition,” the Springbok captain explained.
“They are very good at the breakdown – on attack and defence. They got one of the quickest ruck speeds in the competition and they got a strong pack.
“There is so much that we need to look out for this weekend. We just need to be at our best in everything that we do.
“The biggest thing for us is to make sure that we get ourselves up for the game and make sure that we are aware because they can do anything, especially in the set-pieces. They always got trick plays.
“They are a great team. They play really well together because they know what they are about.”
@rugby365com
