Pietersen Shifts Focus To Bulls After Lions’ Loss
Sharks coach JP Pietersen bemoaned his side’s less-than-impressive performance as they lost to the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
After three successive victories across all competitions, including back-to-back derby wins over the Stormers, the Sharks were comfortably beaten by the Lions, missing out on a vital opportunity to secure the South African Shield title.
“Our team performance was pretty poor,” said Pietersen.
“We did some good stuff, but we’re in that cycle of one positive and two negatives,” lamented Pietersen. “Credit to the Lions for taking the opportunity. We’ll look at whether it was an individual or system error.”
Despite a strong start by the Lions, the Sharks’ defence held firm before scoring the first try of the game through Fez Mbatha. A yellow card reduced the Durban outfit to 14 men, something the Lions took full advantage of, scoring two tries in that period, although Pietersen was swift in focusing on his team’s inability to defend well and manage certain match situations.
“We had a better start – we were 7-3 up, and the yellow card changed the game,” Pietersen mentioned.
“We defended well until then. We got a yellow card, and they scored two tries, but I don’t think you can blame that on the yellow card. I don’t think so,” Pietersen said firmly.
“They applied a little kick where the ball goes through (Aphelele) Fassi’s legs. They’re controllables. If Fassi catches the ball, we go forward, and it’s a different ball game.”
The Sharks were notably without a fair chunk of their Springboks against the Lions, and appeared to suffer from dealing with the Lions’ attacking maul, not offering up enough resistance in the defensive maul, which was brought into question.
In addition, the Sharks conceded a try within the opening minutes of the second half, despite having the man advantage, something perhaps avoidable with greater leadership on the pitch.
“There are individuals who need to step up, and some of them are in the transition of learning and becoming leaders. We probably lack a bit of leadership in key areas without Andre (Esterhuizen) and Siya (Kolisi). It’s part of the process, and they will get better,” explained Pietersen.
The Sharks will turn their attention to another tough encounter on the Highveld next weekend, when they take on a resurgent Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versveld.
The Bulls have recovered from an unwanted seven-game losing streak and have won three on the trot, including a resounding 52-17 victory over the Lions at the same venue where the Sharks were soundly defeated.
“Every game is important for us. Next week we have the Bulls at Loftus. If you look at what the Bulls did in the last game against the Lions, it’s a different team,” Pietersen said.
“We’ll look at where we can be better and how we can limit our soft errors in the game. The boys are hurting. You can see it in the change room, and we will definitely bounce back next weekend.”
Pietersen will be glad to call on some of his stalwarts who can make a positive impact with both their experience and ability.
“Some Springboks are available next week. Andre (Esterhuizen) and Ox (Nche) are available, so we’ll see how they slot in next week. They are up for selection.”
