Cell C Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell believes his side will need to improve defensively if they are to progress from their Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Stade Toulousain on Saturday.
The Sharks overcame Munster Rugby 50-35 in a 12-try thriller in Durban last weekend, but Powell has urged the South African side to tighten up their defence after Munster scored five tries in the Round of 16 tie at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
“It was a great performance from an attacking point of view, but we do set high standards of ourselves on defence, so conceding that number of tries in that last 20 minutes was disappointing and that’s something we will need to fix if we want to go further in this competition,” said Powell.
“We need to put pressure on the ball but also to be better on our defensive width and how we defend out wide. I don’t think we were good enough. We set the bar high. We do need to look at our defence and be better if we want to get through the next one.”
Toulouse scored 12 tries in their four Pool B matches and followed those up with three more in their Round of 16 match against Vodacom Bulls, whom they beat 33-9 at Le Stadium, so Powell knows his side needs to be near-immaculate against the record five-time winners.
He added: “It won’t be easy and we all know that when you get to the knockout stages, you have to be a lot more accurate. There is little room for mistakes and if you do make any, the opposition will punish you for that.
“With this being our first year in the competition, we’ve tried to create some hype and excitement around being in the European Championship.
“The vibe, energy and culture around this tournament are exciting, but we know the further we progress, the tougher it’s going to get and how much more clinical and disciplined we will need to be.”