The Cell C Sharks issued an early warning to the DHL Stormers with a brilliant 22-19 win over Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday. The Cell C Sharks will host the DHL Stormers on Saturday at 14:00 (SA Time) in Durban at the Hollywoodbets King Park.
Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell praised his team’s fighting spirit despite Edinburgh's efforts to make life difficult for his team with their unstructured style of play.
“As a coaching team and as a management team we are so proud of the boys for the effort, the fight and the character they showed in this game, I know it was tough in those last few minutes but I think for the whole 80 minutes they showed a lot of fight.
“We asked for them to be physical and dominant and I think they did exactly that in this game and they did it for the whole 80 minutes.”
“It was a good start for us. We defended well, we stayed in structure and we played the game in the right areas of the field and then they just played off our mistakes and they almost made the game unstructured.
“It suited their way of play and they scored those three tries just before half-time. The big message to the boys during the halftime break was just to get back into our structures and our systems and not get caught up with how they play the game.
“I think we still had a few opportunities to take the game away from them in the first half and second half, but I think overall it’s a very good win for us.
“It’s a massive win for us and we will take a lot of confidence and momentum out of this one.
“Everybody is committed to where we want to go this season and I think that commitment was shown on the field, especially in defence so it was a great effort. For us, this should become the standard for the Sharks and how we play and how we pitch up for every single game.”
“We will enjoy this win and fly back to South Africa and start our preparations for the Stormers game.”
