The Hollywoodbets Sharks' eight-try thrilling Vodacom United Rugby Championship victory over Benetton at Hollywoodbets Kings Park showed how exciting the young backline is, but not without a platform from which to show their attacking prowess.
For Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach JP Pietersen, without a foundation, much of what the team achieved on attack wouldn’t have been possible. A dominant scrum, an effectively competitive lineout and power at maul time delivered the backline the perfect platform from which to launch their many attacks.
“We gelled pretty well, there was good intent, and I was very happy with the performance,” he admitted after the game.
Scoring eight tries was something special, but Pietersen acknowledged that without a solid foundation, they may not have earned such a valuable reward.
“We have exciting backs in Jurenzo, Siyaya, Jaco, Edwill, as well as Mapimps and Lili Bester coming on, along with Andre, he’s the older guy, but it all starts with the set-piece, and we must give credit to the pack.
“Emile led well, Ox scrummed well, we mauled well, and there were good ball carries from Manu, who was very good for us.
“So the forwards deserve credit for laying the platform for the backs to express themselves.”
While much can be said about what the team did with the ball, the game is also won and lost with the work done without the ball, and there was high praise for the team’s fight on defence to deny Benneton for 78 minutes.
“We brought the physicality, the first point of contact was good, we made our one-on-one tackles, and we contested hard on the ball, which stopped them from gaining any go-forward. Even when they did get a line-break, there was good scrambling, and it wasn’t just one guy chasing, but three or four.
“Benetton had a chance in the first half, but there was a good fight from Jaco to chase back and to stop them. So the physicality and effort were both outstanding throughout the whole 80 minutes.
“We asked the team to give us consistency in performance, and they did that with the right mindset, and that all came from a good week of prep with Andre showing good leadership all week.”
Although a top-8 finish won’t be achieved this season, this match really showed the pride the players have in the jersey, and the youth who raised their hands to be counted certainly bode well for the future.
“We are very disappointed to be out of the top 8, but we’ve addressed this. We said before this match that there are two home games left in the tournament, and we want to show the crowd that has been supporting us this whole season that there is fight and pride in the jersey.
“That’s what I’ve been asking from day one when I took over. We’ve been doing it, not consistently, but there’s always fight and pride. And in this game, it just showed that when your opponent scores just one try against you, there’s a massive fight and pride in the jersey.”
What did the performance say about the group in essence?
“I think it sums us up.
“Our log position doesn’t do justice to what we’ve been working on, but credit to the group. To pitch up every Monday in a difficult time, putting a lot of effort in but not getting the rewards, but they keep showing up, positive.
“Andre, Emile, Vincent Tshituka, Nick Hatton – the leadership group really care about this union.
“We’re in the process of learning how to win, and I think we’re on the right path of learning about consistently winning for next season.”