Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach JP Pietersen praised his team’s fortitude against the odds for their Vodacom United Rugby Championship victory over Cardiff on Friday evening.
His team suffered an early injury blow, a handful more periodically as the game unfolded, a tough pitch and challenging weather conditions, as well as a proud home team playing in front of passionate Welsh fans, but rose to the challenge.
“It just shows the character and the belief in the group, particularly when we were under the pump, the score was 21-17, playing against the wind, we could have easily lost, but we stuck in there,” he said after the victory which kept the Hollywoodbets Sharks in fifth place on the overall log.
“Yes, we know it wasn’t perfect, we’re still in the process of becoming that team, but we are very happy with the result and over the moon to get five points in Cardiff.”
Pietersen also praised the leadership from his stand-in captain following the early loss of Andre Esterhuizen, showing how the individuals and team stood strong in the face of adversity.
“There was great leadership from Nick Hatton, Emile van Heerden led as well. Losing Andre was a setback, we also lost Phatu Ganyane early with an elbow injury and Jurenzo Julius at half-time.
“We had three injuries in the first half, and then lost Jason Jenkins early in the second half, so there were some disruptions, but the beautiful thing about this team is that they found a way to get on with it and to pull closer together.
“So we must give massive credit to the group, for staying in the fight and finishing off the way they did.”
It was a win against the odds, considering the sheer scale of the challenge that traveling teams face, together with injuries and an artificial pitch, plus Cardiff’s home record over the last year which is seriously impressive.
“Together with the wind factor in the second half, to get five points on the road is really special,” said Pietersen.
“And with that, to deny Cardiff any points, shows how deeply the players feel about this badge, about our identity and how we want to take The Sharks organisation forward.”
Despite scoring a full-house of log points, the coach warned that there can be no getting ahead of themselves, particularly with a huge challenge that awaits against Munster on Saturday.
“As happy as we are, we are keeping our feet on the group because we have a massive game against Munster in Limerick. We’ll enjoy this win, reflect on it and then hit the ground running.
“Because of the injuries we suffered, we will fly some guys in to help us finish off the tour.”
Esterhuizen (right ankle), Ganyane (right elbow) and Julius (hamstring) have all returned to South Africa to undergo scans to assess the severity of their injuries and establish a recovery programme, while Jason Jenkins remains with the squad.
Cameron Dawson, Litelihle Bester and Suleiman Hartzenberg all joined up with the team on Sunday to bolster squad depth ahead of the Hollywoodbets Sharks final tour match before the tournament takes a break for the Nations Cup fixtures in November.
