DURBAN - Sharks coach Robert du Preez intimated that he gave his team a roasting after an indifferent performance against the struggling Reds that nevertheless could have resulted in a win.
The Sharks lost 26-28 and Du Preez, speaking from Sydney on Tuesday, was not of the school of thought that his team had been unlucky to lose after leading for 72 minutes of the game.
“I don’t think we played well at all,” Du Preez said from the team’s base in Coogee Beach, Sydney.
“We are still debating that it is a consolation that we were eight minutes from winning, but the reality is we did not get to play too much rugby because we had so little possession.”
The Sharks did not get their game going and talk of playing an expansive game remained on the drawing board.
“That was not the way we want to play. We could not get phases going and battled to get out of our half,” Du Preez said.
“There were too many individual errors that gave the ball back to the Reds, and then our discipline was unacceptable. This was disappointing
because we spoke so much in the pre-season about discipline, yet gave away 11 penalties.
“That is too many in Super Rugby, and we also have a player suspended (Etienne Oosthuizen for two weeks after being found guilty of foul play).”
The Sharks are based in Sydney and will travel to the Australian capital tomorrow before Saturday’s game.
“It is not going to get any easier,” Du Preez said.
“They could have beaten the Crusaders in their home game last week. They lost narrowly and showed they are well organised, perhaps more so than the Reds.
“The Sharks do not have a good record in Canberra and the Brumbies are well coached by Stephen Larkham. It is a tough place to play. Our record shows that.”
Du Preez said he had not finalised his team but would make one or two changes.
One enforced change is in the second row where Oosthuizen will be replaced by Stephan Lewies.
“Etienne is a big loss for us with his physicality, and he was really looking forward to playing against his former team (Oosthuizen had a season at the Brumbies when they were coached by former Springbok coach Jake White). The guys coming in have to take their opportunities.”
On a positive note, Du Preez said he was pleased with the form of halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Patrick Lambie.
“I was happy with both guys, and with match practice they will get sharper,” the coach said.
“But they need more possession if we are to get our game going. Improved discipline will help because we gave too much ball away through not protecting the ball that came our way, and we also have to improve our exiting from our 22. We need more territory on our exiting.”
The Sharks had no injuries in the game.