Despite the Hollywoodbets Sharks last minute defeat to the Lions in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday, head coach JP Pietersen was proud of the way his team fought back against adversity.
“Looking at the game, when you’re 15-nil down in the opening 10 minutes, it’s an uphill battle to get back into the game, but credit to the boys, it was 17-18 at half-time, so what we can take from this is that we could start better and be in the game from minute one,” he explained after the match.
Towards the end of the game, with the result hanging in the balance and the Hollywoodbets Sharks enjoying a five-point lead, the team earned attacking penalties which were sent to the corner, rather than opting for the three points, a team backing their attacking prowess.
“We can’t look at the missed conversions, we had two tries disallowed and that’s 10 points there, so we can’t point people out for missing kicks. We have to start better, when that happens, you set yourself up to close out and win games.
“To come back from 15-nil and to be in the game makes me proud of the boys for the way they played and their fight, but that’s rugby, a local derby which is always unpredictable.
“We must give credit to the Lions, they were good and when they got opportunities, they finished them off.”
With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, the penalties not kicked towards the end of the game might have resulted in a different outcome, but Pietersen backed his players who had scored four legitimate tries and been denied a further two times.
“We also had two disallowed tries, and had we scored [off the late penalties], it would have been a different story, and that’s part of the game, we live and learn. I wouldn’t call that the defining moments of the game.”
Although a loss hurts deeply, there are lots of positives and recent form suggests the team is growing every week.
“Playing at home with the crowd cheering us on, you can feel it’s coming, I’m proud of the boys, they fight, they give everything on the field, the Lions were just better on the day.
“We scored four tries, they scored three, so our attack worked, but we couldn’t convert every opportunity, if you look at the 10 minutes after half time, we dominated possession and territory but couldn’t convert.”