Sharks coach JP Pietersen admitted his side were unable to match the All Blacks’ speed and skill after suffering a brutal 54-0 defeat at Kings Park on Tuesday night.
New Zealand ran in eight tries in wet conditions to register their second win of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour in front of a disappointingly small crowd of 14,759.
Despite the lashing, Pietersen was nevertheless proud of the effort shown by his players, who were facing a formidable All Blacks side with many of their first-choice players.
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“Look at the scoreboard, it’s not nice to see,” Pietersen said. “But the boys fought from minute one to minute 80.”
The Sharks made a bright start and put pressure on New Zealand during the opening stages, but Pietersen said the visitors took control once the match opened up after half-time.
“We couldn’t match their speed in the second half. We were just behind in everything they did,” he said.
“Every breakdown, every offload, every ball on the floor, they were just getting every offload.”
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The Sharks had approached the match with an attacking mindset despite being in the early stages of their pre-season.
“We’re in pre-season now; we’ve prepped ourselves to go for it. It’s a once-off game, go for gold. I think that’s what the mindset was in the game,” Pietersen said.
“We were going to go for it, put pressure on them as much as we can. I think we did that in the first 15 minutes.”
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But the All Blacks’ quality eventually told.
“They played with confidence, and they showed it in the second half,” Pietersen said.
The historic occasion also produced one of the most memorable moments before kick-off when former All Black Ma’a Nonu responded to New Zealand’s haka with a solo “Kapa o Pango”.
WATCH: Nonu performs one-man haka
“He said to do the haka back is a sign of respect to the All Blacks,” Pietersen said. “And it’s beautiful that he did the haka.
“He was quite nervous to do the haka by himself. That’s what he was more worried about. I got goosebumps when I saw it.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
The post JP on 54-0: It’s not nice to see appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Sharks coach JP Pietersen admitted his side were unable to match the All Blacks’ speed and skill after suffering a brutal 54-0 defeat at Kings Park on Tuesday night.
The post JP on 54-0: It’s not nice to see appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
