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“Especially after our result against Griquas,” adds Assistant Coach Grant Bashford. “We always said our home games were important and the win and certainly the bonus point was a huge relief. Winning was important but more so was in the way we won. We left a lot of opportunities out there, so we could have won by more.”
He continues that defensively, the feeling is that it was a job well done. “I know we let in a few tries, but our stats were really high; we only missed 10 tackles and our defense was up at 94% so it was a good day at the office.”
The biggest gripe from the Griquas game was that they felt they turned over too much ball. “But against the Blue Bulls, we managed to hold onto the ball and went through nine phases at times and scored points. Had we done that that against Griquas, because we had our opportunities, it could have been a different story.
“Our retention and the fact that we didn't slow the ball down - it kept coming quickly so we could put them under pressure defensively - is what it is all about, building pressure.”
Matches against their traditional rivals are always going to be about the physicality and who can gain the upper hand. In this case, The Sharks certainly didn't back down from the challenge and the physical intensity was as high as the coaches could wish for.
“Everyone carried the ball for us, from 1 to 15,” explains Bashford. “When you get that, other areas start to open up. The pack had a huge challenge going into that game but they stopped the Bulls' drive and certainly weren't bullied up front. A huge amount of credit needs to be paid to the forwards.
The feeling after the game is that they achieved the elements they had been working on. “It was a huge game for us after the Griquas' loss; we knew we had to win at home and there were lots of positives. But like always, also things to improve and there are parts from the game we'll look to change. There is always room for improvement and we're not going to rest on our success. But what was rewarding was the intent we showed in the game. Continuity between backs and forwards was good.”
The backline really revelled in the quality ball provided by the forwards and this allowed The Sharks to keep running at the Blue Bulls. Bashford adds that the form shown by Absa Man of the Match Lwazi Mvovo (pictured) is a continuation of what he did in the Vodacom Super 14.
“What was nice is after Lwazi's form in the Super 14, he's lived up to expectations; he's another player who has huge potential. His challenge is to maintain what he did in the Super 14 and he's doing it thus far. With someone like Patrick Lambie who wasn't going badly at 15, moving him to 12 was something we've spoken about for a long time. Really setting it alight was rewarding. Charl McLeod at scrumhalf brought another dimension to our style of play and a lot of the positive, quick go-forward ball was credit to the forwards and his mobility around the park.”
