The Sharks had some hairy moments against the Blue Bulls but kept their heads to punish every mistake. Photo: Steve Haag/ Gallo Images.
Starting well is crucial in knockout games and the Blue Bulls’ failure to do so was the principle reason for their 37-27 defeat at the hands of the Sharks in their Currie Cup semifinal at King’s Park in Durban, according to coach John Mitchell.
The Sharks scored two converted tries in the first seven minutes, a 14-0 lead that the Bulls could never quite overcome, despite their young side producing a highly commendable effort against the Currie Cup favourites.
“Your start is very important in finals rugby and unfortunately we gave them two softies – we were a bit inaccurate in our exit football early on and then there was the charge-down. We were guilty in the first half of giving away too much ball, too early, and you can’t afford that in finals rugby, which is the closest to Test match intensity you’ll get.
“But I’m really proud of the way the guys fought back, we just ran out of time in the end. The Sharks deserved to win, but you have to admire the way the guys fought, in what was the first experience of finals rugby for many of our young guys,” Mitchell said after the game.
Mitchell said he was happy with where the Bulls are placed as they set their sights on Super Rugby.
“We’ll have our internationals and Japan-based players coming back, as well as a few injured guys, plus we’ve unearthed 11 Under-21 guys in the Currie Cup while still maintaining a very good U21 side,” Mitchell said.
Sharks coach Robert du Preez said the exits and not conceding as many penalties were the areas where his team needed to improve ahead of the final against Western Province in Durban next weekend.
“It was a fantastic performance by the boys, but there are a couple of things we know we have to work on, we haven’t hit our straps yet, but hopefully we will put it all together in the next week.
“We need to sort out our exits and we didn’t really get any momentum in the second half because we gave away too many penalties,” Du Preez said.
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