There was no pandering, last week, when Sharks coach Robert du Preez said that Western Province would be their toughest challenge yet.
The struggling Province team put on their best showing of the competition when they beat the Sharks 34-27 on Saturday, to pick up only their second win. But Sharks captain Keegan Daniel also believes their own error rate had something to do with it.
The match itself was an intensely physical one, and an immensely exciting one, but it was clear that on the day, aided by Robert du Preez jr, Province were more clinical in taking their chances.
Two clear examples of this were when, Du Preez jr sent a cross-kick, and a deft grubber, through the defence for centre EW Viljoen to latch on to.
In the end, the Sharks were outscored by five tries to two, but in reality, there were few more scoring opportunities that were left out there for the men in black and white.
“We had opportunities and we didn’t use them, now we will need to reflect hard on this game,” Daniels said. “We committed too many errors and we weren’t composed, we just couldn’t get into the game. You have to play good rugby if you want to beat Province and we weren’t good enough.”
It was a very honest assessment from the Sharks veteran, and an area they will have to improve upon.
The Currie Cup team has adopted a very much ball in hand, attacking approach, under Du Preez, and there is no doubt he would have been fuming after they failed to execute it.
Du Preez’s mantra for this season has been to improve every game; the Province game would have been a step backwards, especially with their focus on skills execution and limiting mistakes.
If Western Province was seen as their greatest challenge to date, there is no doubt that this week, against Free State, at Kings Park, will be one that could decide the season.
Free State remain the only undefeated team in the competition and head to Durban with a lot of pressure on their shoulders, which could well play into the Sharks’ hands as they now have something to bounce back from. - Daily News