Powell likes Sharks’ chances after first Champions Cup triumph

The Sharks’ big performance against the Harlequins in their first game of the Heineken Champions Cup has left director of rugby Neil Powell feeling confident about the team’s direction and their chances in the competition.

But Powell was also honest in his admission that the team’s discipline and other minor issues could throw a spanner in the works should they fail to resolve them quickly.

Powell’s men kicked off their campaign in Europe’s top club rugby competition with a bonus-point 39-31 win over the English side.

The Sharks showed they can be strong and resilient in the face of serious pain as they managed to hold on for a victory even when reduced to 13 men.

That was after hooker Bongi Mbonambi was sent to the naughty chair on 58 minutes while prop Ox Nche was red-carded a few minutes later.

Powell, though, believed the red card was a wrong call and said Nche should have seen yellow, at the most.

The hosts looked up against it in the final 20 minutes of the game as the two-time English Premiership champions reduced the deficit to a single point, but an excellent late team try finished by Boeta Chamberlain ensured the victory for the Sharks.

“I think performance-wise it was definitely a step up from last week against the Ospreys,” Powell said. “We believe that if the performance is good, the result will come by itself.

“We controlled the game nicely in the first half, but unfortunately we had a yellow and red card in the second half. It put us under pressure.”

While Powell is happy with how the Durbanites were able to hold their own despite some discrepancies in their game, he admitted they could not afford to repeat those when they face French side Bordeaux away from home on Friday (10pm SA time).

“I think in the second half we were not as disciplined as we would have liked to be and it put us under pressure,” Powell said.

“Hopefully, we can be more disciplined when we go into the next game against Bordeaux away.

“Positive results in a first game are always important and, having just four games in the Champions Cup pool stage, it is very important to get positive results, especially in your home games.

“If you slip up here, it will be tough to get to the knockout stages. A positive result was really important.”