Hollywoodbets Sharks Head Coach, JP Pietersen, was justifiably disappointed after his team went down to Ospreys in a tight Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Swansea on Saturday evening.
He highlighted certain shortcomings in his team’s execution, particularly around turning possession into points, but also a few cases of sheer bad luck that removed some of the team’s firepower in a game where they could so easily have been on the other side of the scoreboard.
“We got a lot of territory and possession and played some great rugby, which was positive to see and showed that we can be good when we stick to the plan,” he admitted afterwards, acknowledging that his team had played some really good rugby at times, but lamented the lack of closing.
“In saying that we were not clinical or ruthless enough when opportunities came and we created enough opportunities when we got into their 22. There seemed to be a lack of concentration, by losing the ball and letting Ospreys off the hook, with not converting opportunities into points.
“If you don’t take opportunities you put pressure on yourselves to get the next play in and the more pressure you put on yourselves, this resulted in the unforced errors we saw.”
Trailing by just two points at the half-time break, it was still anyone’s game, and then when the bomb squad arrived on the scene, scrum demolition looked to prove the platform from which to launch a winning effort, but that was soon negated.
“In the 2nd half we got more dominance through the scrums, when Ox Nche and Vincent Koch came on. We had three unbelievable scrums when we dominated them and scrummed them off the ball. That was good to see and obviously we were 5 meters out from the line, we scrum them off the ball.
“We only get a 5m scrum back, their prop gets injured. To be honest that is question mark. We don’t know, did he get injured or were Ospreys taking the contest away from us?
“We were confident that we could have got a scrum penalty, which would have changed the game probably. We don’t know for sure and I can’t talk on behalf of Ospreys, but it certainly took the contest away from the game.”
Scrum dominance aside, Ethan Hooker’s efforts in the first half were immense, contributing in the air, on the ground, in defence and in support of the ball-carrier, and when he was injured after scoring his team’s second try, a major force in the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ arsenal was removed.
“Ethan’s injury was a massive blow for us,” Pietersen lamented.
“After scoring a try, the rules say you are not supposed to dive on a player and rules are there to protect players and sadly that did not happen.
“He dislocated his shoulder. He is a massive presence for us and to lose him after the first half was very disappointing and frustrating.”
A stunning feature that came out of the game was the temperament and performance of 18-year-old fullback Zekhethelo Siyaya who delivered a performance for the ages, not looking out of place in one of rugby’s toughest environments.
“Zekhethelo at fullback on debut was very impressive. He is just a kid, but did not look like one out there. Like I said before the game, he has a mature head and a bright future ahead of him in the black and white jersey. He plays with freedom and exuberance and that is good to see.
“But ultimately, we are very disappointed not to have come away with the result.”