ERNIE: “I ALWAYS FELT WE COULD WIN”
Sharks skipper Ernst van Rhyn said the performance against Harlequins on Sunday wasn’t good enough – but he says he always felt confident they would find a way to win.
Your Sharks trailed by three at half time and then by ten points with just 20 minutes left, but a penalty try after a powerful rolling maul was brought down on the line secured the win and the five points for the home side.
“Give some respect to Harlequins because they’re a really good team,” Ernst said. “They had a bad result last week and it was difficult to match their desperation and emotion and that probably showed in the first half, especially the first 30 minutes.
“I definitely always felt like we could win the game though and this is an area of growth for us. I think we have different areas of the game we can lean into now and in this game it was the set-piece and the maul that got us out of a difficult situation.
“We knew that if we looked after the maul and went through the phases we would get the reward. I always knew we could win the game and get the five points but it was frustrating and there were times when I don’t think we were quite good enough physically or in our accuracy or decision-making.
“It wasn’t up to the standard that we have for ourselves but I think last season we would have lost that game so we’ll take the win, take responsibility for what didn’t go right.
“No one will be happy with that performance because it wasn’t up to the standards to which we hold ourselves. But it’s all in our hands. That’s the exciting bit.”
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