Sharks will be better adjusted to 4G this time

The Cell C Sharks will take not only the confidence that comes with having won on tour into Saturday’s important Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture against Cardiff Blues, they will also be better adjusted to the challenge of playing on a 4G synthetic surface.

                               
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It may not be coincidence that in all the matches played by South African teams on what to most of the players is an alien surface they have conceded early points and fallen behind. It happened to the Sharks two weeks ago when they played Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium, and it happened to the DHL Stormers in their recent match against Edinburgh at the DAM Health Stadium.

In both those games there were early defensive errors that cost the visitors and forced them to play catch-up. In both instances, they recovered well, with the Stormers coming back to draw in Edinburgh and the Sharks regaining a lot of pride from their second half performance in Glasgow, something that probably gave them the momentum and confidence they needed to beat the Ospreys.

And it happened to both the Vodacom Bulls and to a much lesser extent the Emirates Lions this past weekend too. The Lions conceded a dubious try early in their game against the Warriors before coming back to push their opponents all the way, while the Bulls were 16-3 down in Cardiff before adjusting and taking control after halftime to eventually win 29-19.

Ruan Pienaar, on loan to the Sharks from the Toyota Cheetahs, has extensive experience of 4G pitches from his many years playing in Europe mostly for Ulster, and he agrees that switching to 4G requires quite an adjustment that can catch you out if you don’t make it quickly.

“You’ve got to be clinical on the 4G pitch, very accurate and clinical, and the tempo is higher so defensively you have to be on point or the opposition can hurt you,” said Pienaar as he looked ahead to Saturday’s game against Cardiff that will end a four-week tour that has so far brought one win and two losses.

“Especially against Cardiff’s dangerous back three we are going to have be very on point and accurate on defence, and they have Rhys Priestland there pulling the strings for them. At the same time, if we get some control and momentum it will be hard for them to defend against us on those pitches so that is what we will be looking to do.”

MASSIVE STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION

Pienaar said that last week’s win in Swansea was a massive step in the right direction for the Sharks but that the URC was a competition much like Super Rugby was in that there are few weak teams and a loss of focus can bring disastrous results.

“Winning on tour gives you belief that you can do it, a win on tour is always special, and that is what South Africans learned from over 25 years of touring in Super Rugby. A win on a tough tour gives confidence, but there are not many weak teams in this competition. Yes, it was a positive for us and it brings a different vibe in the squad but for us it is all about focusing now on finishing off this tour well by winning at the weekend.”

Pienaar knows that the hurt Cardiff will feel after two successive defeats will make them more determined and dangerous and the Sharks are aware of that.

“They will be disappointed. They have had two losses on the bounce and would have felt in control against the Bulls so they will be very disappointed with that second-half performance. It is a good Cardiff team with lot of international players and they have a particularly dangerous backline. If we let them get time on the ball and let them determine the pace of the game it will be a tough challenge for us.”

ON BEING THE BULLS' SUPPORTERS CLUB

The Sharks got their first taste of Cardiff Arms Park when they became the Bulls’ unofficial supporters club, something that Pienaar felt was partly a response to the negative criticism in the foreign media towards the South African challenge in the URC thus far.

“Going to the game to support was not planned (as a team). We wanted to get to see Cardiff play and obviously it would help to see the game live so we could get to start planning for the coming weekend,” said Pienaar.

“But there has been a lot of media over here about South Africa struggling in the competition, and we felt there was a bit of a turn-around beginning this past weekend. We beat the Ospreys, the Lions only just lost to the Warriors and the Stormers played really well against Edinburgh. So for the Bulls game we decided as South Africans we needed to support each other. We are all in a new challenge and it helps to pull together. I know speaking to some of the Bulls players afterwards that they appreciated it.”

SA CHALLENGE WILL GET STRONGER AND STRONGER

Pienaar has extensive experience of European rugby and the URC in its previous incarnations as the Pro14 and Pro12 so he knows what he is talking about when he says the South African challenge will get stronger and stronger and stronger.

“When I first came over there was a lot of talk about the north not being on the level of the south but I played here for a long time and I know that is just not true. The teams here are well coached and organised and you play against international players each weekend. There are different weather conditions, that will get worse later in the northern winter, but we will adapt to those things and this is an exciting time for SA rugby to see teams coming north as we will just get stronger and stronger as time passes.

“We opened up against Munster and that game was always going to be a massive learning curve for us. Munster are a tough team, particularly at Thomond Park. So it was a hard introduction for us. Discipline cost us in that game and we have worked hard since then on getting better on those points. There were one or two things against Glasgow we could have done differently and that would have made it a different game. But against the Ospreys we got it right. Our discipline was good and we took our chances.”