Sharks boss hails 'massive success' in Edinburgh as SA teams struggle

This weekend's URC action was pretty bleak from a South African perspective, with the Bulls, Stormers and Lions all suffering resounding defeats, which only made the Sharks' achievement stand out more.

Powell wanted to see a more committed and physical performance from his team on attack and defence and that's exactly what he got as the Sharks built up an early 14-0 lead before courageously withstanding a late onslaught from the home side.

"We're proud of the boys for the character, effort, and fight they showed in this game," Powell said.

"It was tough in that last few minutes, but for the whole 80, they showed the fight. We asked them to be physical and dominant and they did exactly that in this game.

"We defended well, we stayed in structure, and we played the game in the right areas of the field, but in the last 10-15 minutes, they fed off our mistakes.

"We made the game unstructured, and it suited their way of playing and that allowed them to come back into the game."

The fact that the Sharks were the only South African team to emerge victorious on the weekend despite playing away from home and being without several of their key Springboks was not lost on Powell either.

"Overall, it was a very good win for us and if you look at how the other South African teams played, it's a massive success for us," the coach added.

"We will definitely take confidence, momentum, and flow out of this game. The commitment was shown in this game.

"This should be the standard of the Sharks in terms of how we play and how we pitch up for every game."