The Hollywoodbets Sharks coach, JP Pietersen, wants the team to leave behind the sorrow of being eliminated from the EPCR Challenge Cup as it is represented by the climb to enter the playoffs in the United Rugby Championship.
The Sharks were eliminated from the last 16 of the Challenge Cup by defeating Connacht 29-12 at Dexcom Stadium, Ireland, on Friday night.
In this game, the Sharks led 12-7 at the break before Connacht turned it around in the second half.
Coming out of this competition means that Pietersen’s team is looking to use the remaining group games in the URC to collect points that will make it count to the eight that will advance to the quarterfinals.
The Sharks are 10th on the URC log with 33 points from 14 games. They are seven points behind eighth-placed Vodacom Bulls.
They will play the next two away games against the Ospreys in Wales on April 18, and then face Edinburgh in Scotland on April 24.
It will then wrap up the group stage with two home matches against the Italian teams, Benetton and Zebre, next month.
“We are disappointed but there are many good things we can take away from these four games left in the URC. We will play two here in the North (Europe) against the Ospreys and Edinburgh. What we did in the first half will encourage us because we were able to withstand the weather and the field, we put the ball in the right places,” commented Pietersen.
“It’s also good that we fought until the end. If we gave up hope, we would have been beaten by 50 points or more. The team’s fight shows that they have courage, which is something we have to work on.
“What we need to do in the coming games is not to lower the standard from the beginning of the game until the end. That is what I have been asking the players for the whole season. We are still unable to hold the ball but we will analyze and see how we can fix this in the coming games.
“We will also look at which injured players cannot return so that we can give everything we have in the remaining games in the URC. We have a chance to collect 20 points from it, which would put us in a position to finish in the Top 8.”
It was a dark weekend for local teams in European competitions, since DHL Stormers were defeated by Toulon of France 28-27 in the Last 16 of the Champions Cup, Bulls were eliminated by Glasgow Warriors of Scotland 25-21 in the same competition.
