Sharks

Pietersen : There is no crisis in the Sharks camp

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Sharks centre JP Pietersen has insisted that despite them haveing a poor start
to the Super Rugby season with one win from four matches there is no crisis
in Durban.

The Durbanites lost to the Cheetahs at home in their opening game, before defeats
away at the Bulls and Stormers. Their solitary win came against the Lions at
Kings Park in round two.

“I won’t say we’re in a crisis, ” Springbok star Pietersen said.

“A couple of good wins and then we’re back in the competition.

“You can see by the results so far, there are a lot of away teams winning
games, so Super Rugby is a long competition and there’s a long way to go. “

However, Pietersen admitted that one win out of four was unacceptable.

“I don’t think one of four is acceptable for any team. So we need to
step up. “

The poor sequence of results under new director of rugby Gary Gold has meant
that the Bok-laden Sharks are a lowly 10th position on the standings and with
a lot of work to do in the coming weeks if they are to ignite their challenge
for an elusive Super Rugby crown.

They face the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein this week, with Pietersen acknowledging
the pressure will be on to produce a result.

“There’s a lot of pressure on us, ” he said.

“There’s pressure even if you lose one game and we’ll be under a lot
of pressure again this weekend.

“But that’s what makes great players. And we’ve been in this sort of
situation before, so I think the players will stand up Saturday. “

He admitted that the players and coaching staff had been discussing some of
the problems encountered over the opening month this week when they got together
at the start of this week.

They returned from Newlands in Cape Town with a 29-13 scoreline.

“We’ve made things difficult because we play such a good brand of rugby
and we are a good team.

“We’ve spoken about it on Monday and Tuesday.

“The most important thing is our execution. We got into good areas o the
field over the weekend, but we just didn’t execute. That was the frustrating
thing. There’s nothing big to fix, but it’s just about being more accurate and
more hard on ourselves. “

Meanwhile, the Sharks are expected to be handed a double boost this week with
the return of Springbok front-row pair Jannie du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira.

Du Plessis has been on paternity leave, while Mtawarira returns after a calf
injury.

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