Africa-Press – South-Africa. Sharks coach Sean Everitt said having counter-attacking bankers like Aphelele Fassi and Makazole Mapimpi can make a difference in tightly contested matches.
The Sharks may have comfortably prevailed 41-21 against Connacht in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash on Saturday afternoon, but they were down 21-10 at half-time.
The Sharks have a tendency to lose scrappy matches, with the 21-5 loss against Edinburgh being an example.
However, the pressure brought to the fore by the Sharks’ forwards forced the visitors into an unwarranted kicking game.
Despite only one of the Sharks’ five tries being scored by a back in inside centre Marius Louw, a Fassi counter-attack opened up the Connacht defence.
“People think that when you kick the ball away, you’re kicking it to the opposition, but if you kick it well, you get it back and have a counter-attacking opportunity,” Everitt said. “That’s where guys like Aphelele come into the game. He can turn a game around with good feet and pace and that’s exactly what he did.
“He’s really dangerous from the back and when you add the likes of Makazole Mapimpi, we were able to turn it on from there.
“I’m happy the second 40 was better because there were a lot of people who came to watch us and we didn’t want to disappoint them.”
The Sharks were unnecessarily flustered in the first half against a side that hadn’t lost against South African opposition in the URC.
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With the Sharks needing to win to keep the dream of a home quarterfinal alive, they didn’t go about it in the best manner possible.
They conceded two tries before going on their second-half shut-down that constricted the visitors, with Everitt saying the game’s occasion may have gotten the better of the players.
“Things didn’t go our way in the first half, which was quite strange and both teams gave away a lot of penalties,” Everitt said.
“Both players couldn’t get into their rhythm, but half-time gave us an opportunity to regroup. We spoke about what we needed to do and actions being bigger than words.
“We had to go out and make it happen in the way we planned during the week. It was a pressure game, so I must give the players credit for getting through with the job.
“The occasion could have been big for them.”
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