Sharks boss hails 'confident' team after big win over Bulls

Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell admitted he was delighted with his team's 47-20 victory over the Bulls at Kings Park on Saturday, calling it an "important win".

While many were expecting another fiercely contest local URC derby, the Sharks proved to be too hot to handle for the visitors from Pretoria, opening up a 30-13 lead at half-time which never looked under any threat after the break.

They outscored the Bulls four tries to two and took full advantage of their opponent's ill discipline, which resulted in three yellow cards.

The win moves the Sharks up to the top half of the URC standings and into fifth place, just five points behind the Bulls in fourth - with two games in hand.

"This is a big win for us, especially if you look at the URC log; we needed these five points," said Powell.

"It's going to go a long way for us, so it's a really important win. You would like to win all your home games, so that was really good.

"I think that's the sign of a confident team, when we do take one or two quick-tap penalties and play and not be that predictable.

"The guys have done well. We could have managed the game a lot better in the first 25 minutes and been a lot more disciplined.

"But when we got into the Bulls' half, especially in that last 10 minutes of the first half, the guys really played well."

Powell still identified areas of improvement, however, and feels the Sharks took their foot off the pedal somewhat in the second half.

"Hopefully, as the season gets longer, we can put a performance like that for 80 minutes and not just for part of the game. I felt it was the same for the Lions last weekend," he added.

"We will look to try to get more consistency right through the 80 minutes, and not at certain times."