VIDEO: Sharks boss faces 'tough calls'
SUPER RUGBY REACTION: Sharks’ 16-19 defeat to the Bulls has left Robert du Preez in a very difficult predicament.
The Sharks outscored the Bulls two tries to one. However, it was Handre Pollard’s successful boot that proved to be the difference.
With the scores level 16-16 in the final minute, flyhalf Pollard stepped up to the plate to convert the winning penalty.
The Bulls’ flyhalf contributed 14 points to his team’s tally, whereas his opposition Robert Du Preez Jnr struggled to find his rhythm from the tee at Kings Park. Du Preez Jnr missed both conversions and only managed to add two successful penalties.
Despite Du Preez Jnr’s troubling display with the boot and with a very suitable goal-kicker in the shape of Curwin Bosch, head coach was very reluctant to relinquish his son as the team’s primary kicking option.
“The thought did go through my mind,” Sharks coach du Preez admitted when asked about using Bosch as the goal kicker in the closing minutes of the loss at Kings Park.
“However, Robs [Du Preez Jnr] has been kicking well all season – it was a difficult one.
“Nonetheless, we will be making rotation changes as we go forward. We will look at the game and make a call on the team who will be travelling to Johannesburg,”
The Round Seven match was filled with handling errors and uncontrolled anger – certainly not a good presentation of South African rugby. The local derby saw Sharks’ Akker van der Merwe and Bulls’ Schalk Brits handed red cards after their exchanged punches.
Replays showed that Van der Merwe instigated the fist fight, while Brits retaliated with punches of his own.
The Sharks coach was certainly left dissatisfied with Van Der Merwe’s conduct, stating that it is certainly an incident that he can’t ‘condone’.
“[The double red-card] is a tough one. In the moment those things do happen, but we can’t condone that.
“We’ve got to control ourselves better, that’s not great,”
In terms of the team’s overall performance the coach added: “Our possession stats and our territory stats were outstanding. We created a whole bunch of opportunities but at crucial times we made errors and that’s what cost us.
“These local derbies are always going to be tight. In the end, it could have gone either way.
“Our discipline let us down and that last scrum of the game we should have survived. At crucial times we made the mistake and the Bulls capitalised on that.”
The Sharks’ next match is against the Lions in Johannesburg, followed by a home fixture against the Jaguares on April 13.
By Leezil Hendricks
@Leezil07
@Rugby365com
