The Hollywoodbets Sharks went into Saturday’s Carling Currie Cup fourth round game under pressure to earn a result, the young team working hard each week but denied by small margins.
But it all came together and showed how good they can be.
Reflecting on his team’s performance against the Fidelity ADT Lions on Saturday, a proud and very happy head coach JP Pietersen paid tribute to his team’s effort.
“We’re very proud as a group, and from a coaching point, I’m exceptionally proud of the way they played. That was close to our best performance of the campaign so far; we’ve been knocking on the door and finally it opened up for us,” he explained.
“We took our opportunities which was really special,” he added of the four try bonus point the team took out of the game.
“We have some unbelievable youngbloods in the team and the SA Under 20 players brought something special, where I think we had been lacking.
“To see how they all played and fought for the jersey is really special.
“They defended with their hearts.”
Although the tournament is still in the early stages, the Lions had come into this match off the back of three consecutive victories, full of momentum and confidence at having a 100% success rate. What this meant was that they threatened to open up a sizable lead on the log table which had to be curtailed.
“It’s a massive achievement for us as a group to win at Emirates Airline Park, to get five points and make sure they got none out of the game, and that shows how hard we’ve been working,” said Pietersen.
“We know we’re on the right path and finally all the talk and hard work showed with this result.
“As their coach, I’m unbelievably proud of what they achieved.”
This Saturday the Hollywoodbets Sharks are on the road for a second successive weekend, this time at the home of the Airlink Pumas in the return leg clash between the two sides.
