United Rugby Championship: Neil Powell delighted with Sharks’ ‘important win’ over Bulls

David Skippers
Sharks players v Leinster URC 2022 - PA.jpg

Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell couldn’t hide his delight after his team sealed a deserved 47-20 victory over the Bulls in their United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter in Durban on Saturday.

Powell hailed the result as a “big win” and an “important win” as they totally outplayed their opponents and outscored the men from Pretoria by five tries to two.

Ascending the table

The victory means the Sharks have moved up to fifth position in the standings, just five points adrift of the Bulls, who are in fourth spot, although the Durban-based outfit have two games in hand.

“This is a big win for us, especially if you look at the URC log; we needed these five points,” Powell after the match.

“It’s going to go a long way for us, so it’s a really important win. You would like to win all your home games, so that was really good.

“I think that’s the sign of a confident team when we do take one or two quick-tap penalties and play and not be that predictable.

“The guys have done well. We could have managed the game a lot better in the first 25 minutes and been a lot more disciplined.

“But when we got into the Bulls’ half, especially in that last 10 minutes of the first half, the guys really played well.”

Saturday’s triumph was the Sharks’ fifth in a row in all competitions since Powell took over the coaching reins from Sean Everitt, who resigned from his position as head coach at the end of November.

Despite his side’s impressive win, Powell was not entirely happy and remind his troops that they needed to display their quality for a full 80 minutes after being under the cosh during the opening half-hour against the Bulls.

Chasing an 80-minute performance

“Hopefully, as the season gets longer, we can put a performance like that for 80 minutes and not just for part of the game,” he said.

“I felt it was the same for the Lions last weekend.

“We will look to try to get more consistency right through the 80 minutes, and not at certain times.”

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