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Gold not looking for excuses

Johannesburg - After conceding their fourth-place position on the Currie Cup log over the weekend, Sharks Director of Rugby Gary Gold is not looking for any excuses but instead determined to get the side back to winning ways.

The Sharks suffered their fourth defeat from seven matches following a 26-18 reverse to the Golden Lions in Johannesburg.

They subsequently moved into fifth place on the log with the Cheetahs moving past them with four points separating the two teams.

“We don’t have the right at this stage to worry about the referee, we can only worry about ourselves and get our act together,” Gold said after the match.

“I’m more focused on righting our own wrongs than look at anybody else, I will take responsibility for our performance.”

Gold believes his charges made some improvements performing admirably in certain aspects of their game.

They were particularly solid in the scrums where they managed to stand their ground against possibly the strongest scrumming teams in the competition.

“I thought we scrummed well and we know how good the Lions are as a scrum (unit), there wasn’t parity there, they got their ball and we got our ball,” Gold said.

“I thought it was a good strong contest, our lineouts were outstanding and our defence was exceptional.”

Gold said the team would continue to work hard in the remaining four matches of the regular competition as they look to claim a semi-final berth.

“I think we are progressing and I know it is frustrating for the supporters and frustrating for us as a management team as well because we aren’t getting the results but we will stay in the fight and we are not going to give up,” he said.

“You just see it with teams that are a bit low in confidence like we are at the moment, if you don’t take those opportunities they cost you.

“It is just the perfect example of one team playing out there with confidence and one at the moment not, but we take a lot of confidence from the defensive effort today.”

The Sharks will be looking to avoid their third consecutive defeat when they host the second-placed Blue Bulls in Durban on Friday.

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