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Cape Town - Sharks coach Brad Macleod-Henderson said they were happy to come into the Currie Cup final against Western Province at Newlands as underdogs.
As it happened: WP v Sharks
Most pundits and bookies had WP as firm favourites after they went into the final unbeaten in the competition.
However, a brilliant tactical display from the Durbanites saw them triumph in convincing fashion, 33-19.
“Often the underdog tag helps with motivation and you saw us start like a house on fire and we continued with that for 80 minutes," Macleod-Henderson told Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick.
He also credited his charges for the physicality they brought to the game.
“Physically, the guys were amazing! We stood up in the contact area, our kicking game was strong and our defence was awesome, so these factors combined well for us.”
In years past, the assimilation of returning Springboks may not always have been the smooth transition they would like, but this year (as in 2008 and 2010) it worked a treat and there were massive games from the Springboks.
“We were very fortunate to have such good players coming back; Frans Steyn showed his class again, SP Marias, Jannie (du Plessis) and Willem (Alberts) and Bismarck (du Plessis) were all good. It was a great team effort.”
As it happened: WP v Sharks
Most pundits and bookies had WP as firm favourites after they went into the final unbeaten in the competition.
However, a brilliant tactical display from the Durbanites saw them triumph in convincing fashion, 33-19.
“Often the underdog tag helps with motivation and you saw us start like a house on fire and we continued with that for 80 minutes," Macleod-Henderson told Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick.
He also credited his charges for the physicality they brought to the game.
“Physically, the guys were amazing! We stood up in the contact area, our kicking game was strong and our defence was awesome, so these factors combined well for us.”
In years past, the assimilation of returning Springboks may not always have been the smooth transition they would like, but this year (as in 2008 and 2010) it worked a treat and there were massive games from the Springboks.
“We were very fortunate to have such good players coming back; Frans Steyn showed his class again, SP Marias, Jannie (du Plessis) and Willem (Alberts) and Bismarck (du Plessis) were all good. It was a great team effort.”
