REACTION: Sharks Currie Cup captain Nick Hatton singled out the Sharks’ belief following their last gasp 25-20 win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Sharks head coach JP Pietersen praised his side for taking their opportunities and the group’s fight to get the result away from home.
“It wasn’t the best game to watch as a spectator, a bit scrappy but that’s what it is when you want to win,” said Pietersen.
He added: “Both teams went hard at each other and just fortunately for us we took our opportunities playing in the right areas.
“It shows the fight in the group – we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks to be together as a group and that showed today – the fight and the care for each other, I think that’s what takes teams over to get the win.”
Pietersen felt that both sides were great defensively and that the match was much of a tactical nature from a coaches’ point of view.
“The Cheetahs scored in the 70th minute to be up and they kind of feel like they got the game too, and out of nowhere we also struck with Eduan Keyter through the middle and scored the try,”
He added: “Defensively was good, there was no bonus point tries so it was a good game for coaches to watch – how technical we were, it’s a very technical game, and that’s what happens in a technical game, you don’t get a lot of tries, and the team that takes their opportunities comes out on top.”
Captain Nick Hatton lauded the belief in the side to grind out the win when the match seemed to have been lost and also highlighted the importance of taking scoring opportunities in tight matches.
“It’s just about playing in the right areas and wanting to play in their half, and I think this group – what we always have is belief, so we’ll always believe if we get in the right areas and we get an opportunity we can take it.”
Pietersen also praised his captain for showing up when it mattered most after going behind for the first time in the match in the 70th minute when the Cheetahs scored
“Our composure was good and I must give massive credit to Nick [Hatton] for keeping the guys composed and be present on the field for us to stay in the game.”
Hatton gave his thoughts on their upcoming fixture against a struggling Western Province side next week in Cape Town – stating that they’ll need to be better and not underestimate the Capetonians.
“We’re not underestimating them at all, I think going down to Cape Town is going to be a big challenge again but I think we definitely have quite a bit to work on next week even though we pulled this one.”
He added: “We’ll come with a good plan and we’ll just keep that belief and keep fighting.”
