Brutal attacking intent in the red zone enabled a ravenous Sharks side to cross for five tries and make a meal out of the Stormers in Durban on Saturday, coach JP Pietersen said. An ill-disciplined Stormers outfit were hungrily devoured and left flailing in choppy waters at the Shark Tank when they slumped to a 36-24 defeat in front of a festive 25,000 crowd. Thanks to back-to-back wins over their Cape rivals, the resurgent Sharks, under inspirational new coach Pietersen, have climbed to eighth spot on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) log.
“When we got into the 22 today [Saturday], we were brutal against the Stormers,” Pietersen said. “We converted points, and it was the same in Cape Town last week in the first game. “When we got into the 22, we were direct and aggressive, and we came away with points, and that was pleasing.” “When I took over [from John Plumtree], we weren’t in a great place.
What I wanted to see was fighting — not talking, but doing — and making the badge proud. You could see that in the second half.” Pietersen praised his side for their discipline and for holding the Stormers at bay when the Cape outfit had been in threatening positions. “What pleased me was that we didn’t give away soft penalties like we did last week, where teams got easy entries into our 22.
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“Today we were better at not giving them those entries. They went for goal, but we managed that pressure better.” Pietersen praised skipper Andre Esterhuizen for the manner in which he led the Sharks to back-to-back wins over the Stormers.
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