A spirited and courageous display from the Cell C Sharks kept them in the hunt for much of their entertaining Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Leinster on Saturday, but ultimately it was the Irish log leaders who had the final say.
It was a committed effort from the Cell C Sharks and there was never any doubt that they had come to not only play, but to win. The lead see-sawed for the opening hour with both sides enjoying periods of dominance, before conceding the advantage to the opposition.
But a late blitz from the Irish saw them build up an unassailable lead en-route to the win that keeps them in top spot on the URC log, three ahead of second-placed Ulster with the DHL Stormers one point behind in third place.
“The boys tried really hard, the effort was there, the energy they displayed on the field to fight to the end was really good,” Cell C Sharks head coach Sean Everitt explained after the match.
“Unfortunately, individual errors cost us dearly.
“We were up against a class outfit, [flyhalf] Johnny Sexton was world class and he put us under enormous pressure. But in saying that, we’re really pleased to have scored five good tries, although we’re not happy to concede 50 points.”
With a young side missing a number of Springboks, this tour was always going to be a challenging time, but Everitt admitted that there were gains made in the three matches.
“There were aspects of the game that we have improved on since we played Zebre and the Dragons.
“Our goal for this tour was to come away with at least 10 points and we achieved that.”
The Cell C Sharks now return to Durban after their three tour matches, with two wins from three, lying in the top half of the log with a game in hand. Everitt concluded that the team can take a lot of pride from their time in Italy, Wales and Ireland as they now shift their focus to a run of home games at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
“Not many teams have scored 34 points against Leinster, let alone five tries, so there are a lot of positives to take out of this game and we’ll just continue to grow with this young group,” he added.
The Cell C Sharks host Glasgow Warriors this Saturday at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, kick-off scheduled for 4.05pm.