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“We were playing with a really strong wind against us in the second half, so in hindsight, possibly we should have chosen to play with the wind in the second period,” he pointed out. “But at the end of the day, at 22-8 up at half time, we really shouldn't have lost the game. We are disappointed with that.
“It was good that we were able to score five tries, but then to give away five - four through our own mistakes, only one was a planned move - is disappointing. It's an area we need to tighten up and one we know we can fix. A loss isn't good but two points from the game is something. If we pick up two points in another game, one of those losses becomes a win in terms of log points.
“Kimberley is a tough place to go and play.”
On a positive, The Sharks came out of the game relatively unscathed aside from some bumps and bruises and should have no concerns coming out of the match 22. “Touch wood, we came away OK in terms of injuries,” he said, “but we have things to fix. There's some work to do this week.”
In assessing the way forward, he admitted that nothing changes; the basics of rugby remain the same: that quality possession leads to quality attack with meaningful results.
“The rules of the game are there for us to play go-forward rugby and that's what we have to do. Absa Currie Cup is the place to blood young players and we have got to get those players up to speed. If you look at our depth, the squad is good.”
This weekend's encounter against the Blue Bulls is one to be relished, the visitors are always up for matches against The Sharks. There is no motivation necessary when these two teams play each other – the contest itself provides the motivation.
“Both sides respect each other a lot,” the former Sharks fullback said. “We like playing against them and I think it's the same with them. It's a nice game to really pick ourselves up, judge where we are and to assess where we stand. I'm looking forward to it and the players are looking forward to a physical battle. It's going to be a big one and there is absolutely no reason why we can't come away with the points.”
Winning home games is crucial in this tournament and he agrees that they must make home ground advantage count. “We have got to make that count for us, we have to work it in our favour, whichever way you look at it. I don't think travelling or playing away is the scary, daunting task it used to be. Everyone knows the fields and the opposition and what you're up against.
“Going back to this last weekend, maybe we should have played the other way, maybe it was altitude, maybe it was early in the season, or we probably weren't as sharp as we should have been. Given what happened, we have to win this weekend.
We will look back as individuals, as a team, as smaller groups within the team to see where we stand, because that was the first real test and it's let us know where we stand. The nice thing is that we've identified where we have work to do, what we have to work on. And we can fix that up quickly. Certainly, we've got the personnel to do well.”
