The Hollywoodbets Sharks go into the three-week Vodacom United Rugby Championship break in a positive space after back-to-back victories over Munster and Cardiff respectively.
The team now cast their eye to Europe and a EPCR Challenge Cup date with Connacht this Friday evening.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks will take momentum and confidence into that fixture as head coach JP Pietersen reflects on an outstanding first half performance from his charges that set the tone and platform for them to achieve a second victory to go with the one from the previous week.
While he was happy with how his players responded to the challenges set to them, he also acknowledged how competitive Cardiff were in pushing his side, right to the death.
“What I’m most pleased about is how we started the game, starting fast,” he said afterwards.
“But Cardiff, being the quality side they are, came back at us, putting us under massive pressure and scoring two quick tries.
“We felt in the coaches’ box that we needed to swing momentum back in our favour and that’s why we sent the replacement front row on just before half time to give us the edge.
“Wow, it came off and it was good to finish the half 21-12 up which gave us lots of confidence going into the second half.”
Cycles of pressure are a part of the game and momentum swings from one team to the other at various junctures. The team that wins is generally the one that was able to exert more pressure than the opposition and then capitalise on that.
“We took control of the game in the set-piece,” Pietersen explained as he identified where his team reigned supreme.
“We scrummed well and scrummed for penalties, as well as mauling them well. In the first half when we got into their 22, we scored tries, but we couldn’t convert in the second half which wasn’t what we wanted.
“But we were a bit sloppy in the territory and kicking game, we could have been better and that’s a good learning experience for us as we hit the road.”
Pietersen also admitted that both sides had trouble with the aerial battle as the heat and humidity played a big role in the game.
“Although you can’t see the humid conditions on TV, the ball was very slippery,” he explained.
“The conditions were extremely difficult, people were probably asking why we weren’t passing and catching the ball, but it was like a bar of soap, so I thought we did well to score three tries in those conditions.
“In the second half we were one pass away from scoring each time, but you also need to give the opposition credit, they defended well and stayed in the fight.”
The talk ahead of the game was about consistency and the momentum and success the Hollywoodbets Sharks would derive from that.
“These are the standards we strive to. We came off a high of last week [against Munster] and then came up against a quality side in Cardiff where we wanted to back-up that consistency.
“I congratulated the boys afterwards for staying in the fight. Normally we would have given up and let the opposition in for easy tries. But the boys were courageous and that shows growth.”
The growth and maturity of the side have both been evident, particularly over the past two weeks and Pietersen acknowledged the work of the leadership group in driving standards and performance.
“Andre Esterhuizen is leading well as a captain and you have a strong leadership group around him, including Ethan Hooker and Nick Hatton, as well as Vincent Tshituka. Emile van Heerden was huge keeping the forwards composed.”