Durban – The saying “half a loaf is better than none” wasn’t exactly cutting it with Sharks coach Neil Powell on Saturday afternoon when his team earned two precious log points in a 31-24 defeat to Ulster.
The loss keeps the Sharks in seventh place with five games to go until the quarter-finals (for the top eight finishers) but a win would have moved them ahead of the sixth-placed Bulls.
There is one log point between the Sharks and the Bulls while the Stormers are way out in front in the SA Shield and are in second place overall, behind Leinster.
The Sharks travel to Cape Town this week and only the most fanatical of their supporters will believe their team can avenge the heavy loss to the Stormers a few weeks back at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
“Two log points (one for scoring four tries and another for losing by not more than seven) is a comfort but we wanted more,” Powell said with resignation. “It keeps us in the race and helps on the log a little bit, but four points was the goal.
“And now we have a tough assignment in Cape Town. The Stormers are a very good team and there is a reason they are second on the log,” Powel said. “They play a good brand of rugby and they have a holistic game, so you have to be accurate in every facet.
“If there is even one area where you are not accurate, they will punish you.”
Speaking of inaccuracies, Powell said that individual errors cost the side dearly against the Northern Irishmen.
One such moment was when Ulster centre Stewart Moore noticed Grant Williams had not correctly grounded the ball behind a ruck on his tryline.
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The law has been updated to say that the ball must be lifted off the ground and then grounded for it to be dead. It is no longer good enough simply to put pressure on a ball that is on the ground.
“It is about knowing the law,” said Powell. “That was an inaccuracy that gifted them seven points so well done to that Ulster player for his vigilance.”
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Apart from that, Williams was once more a stand-out performer for the Sharks and as early as the second minute he showed blistering pace to score an excellent solo try.
“Grant is a brilliant scrumhalf and a great human,” said Powell, himself a useful scrumhalf for the Cheetahs in another lifetime. “He means a lot to us. He creates spark and opportunities, and he did it again today. He must be a real contender to go to the World Cup.”
IOL Sport
