Generally speaking it was a much improved performance by the Sharks though it against an embattled Blues team. The main difference, this week, being the greater urgency on defence and on attack. The blues are not a happy bunch with coach Pat Lam this week burtsing in tears on national television when questioned about his opinion regarding remarks that the blues problems relate to the high number of Maori and Pacific Islanders in the team. There was also Kevin Muliamu who opinionated his unhappiness with Weepu’s physical condition. So this victory need to be considered against that back drop whether the Sharks like it or not.  

It was a close shave to be honest with slightly more positives than negatives hence the victory. 

Positives being more urgency all over notably better line speed on defence and on attack. There was a lot less lateral running in the backline mostly due to McLeod cleaning quicker form the base without his habitual lateral drifting towards his flyhalf and secondly due to Lambie straightening the backline up.  There was some luck involved with the first two intercept tries but those two tries I though was also due to the greater urgency on defence. The last two tries were two well-constructed tries; no luck there. Better defence in channel 1 was another positive. 

Negatives were the tendency of being too upright when driving the ball up especially in the first half as well as the tendency to loose structure in line-outs and scrums in the first half. Not playing a tactical game when leading in the second half; more tactical game management was required by Lambie and/or McLeod in the second half with the sharks clinging to a slender lead. High tackles in the backline especially by Pietersen resulted in some missed tackles out wide.  Not playing in the first half but trying to defend a lead being another negative. The inability of the back three to create chances is still a concern. To be brutally straight forward the only two players who created something (example off-loads and line-breaks) for team mates were Keegan Daniels and Craig Burden with Lambie and Tim Whitehead also producing some occasional line-breaks.  

In the final analyses I have my doubts whether there is enough cohesiveness at the attacking drives and enough authenticity and speed out wide on attack. I also have my concerns about structure and dominance at the defensive breakdown so I find it hard to be optimistic that this 2012 Sharks team can go all the way. 

However, its early days and with the S15 this year going until August Naas Botha’s famous remarks -after a shock Northern Transvaal loss- that the Currie Cup is not won in April might be applicable at this stage.

Sharks surely had their chances but lack of intensity on attack and defensive saw them slump to a humiliating defeat.

I would venture that the travel factor -after weeks on the road- played a significant role in this lacklustre performance. They started off well in terms of holding on to the ball but there was never intensity as they took the ball up. They look flat; no speed onto the ball; sort of just going through the steps right from the start and got even flatter as the match evolved. None of that never say die attitude that the Cheetahs entralled us with last weeks against the same opponents.

During the early part of the first half (and second half as a matter of fact) the Sharks dominated the possession stats with the Hurricanes having to make almost twice the amount of tackles. However there was a certain lack of concentration, intensity and team work as evidenced by the constant spilling of the ball, poor decision making on attack and lack of quick support at the tackle ball. They kept losing the ball in the tackle; they were slow in support at the collisions culminating in crucial turnovers; and they opt for taking the ball into contact on numerous occasions when there was actually space outside.

All the above as well as the constant flare-up of tempers indicate physical and mental tiredness. I believe the approach of most teams is to try and win at least one match on tour and secure bonus points in the remaining matches. The Sharks having won their previous match against the Brumbies rested some of their big guns in this match indicating that they either underestimated the Hurricanes or sort of didn’t mind losing the match.

It was a disappointing performance by the Sharks altogether especially because they looked to be the better coached side. The Hurricanes –as was the case last week against the Cheetahs- scored mostly individualistic tries and have not convinced me that they can actually built tries. The sharks on the other hand clearly have that ability (to construct tries) but lack of intensity and concentration saw them bumble numerous opportunities.

One of the Sharks biggest problems in this match was the defence in channel 1. As the match progressed the Hurricanes exploited that weakness (poor or slow defence in channel 1) and in so doing were able to break through the Sharks defensive line on a number of occasions with ease scoring as a consequence some flashing tries without really constructing it through a process of builiding phases and pressure. Lucky packet -almost undeserved- tries made worse by a dubious TMO decision with Conrad Smith’s try. McLeod and Michalak and the openside flanker were late and as a result mostly ineffective on defence in channel 1.

Another problem the Sharks seem to have is that they run too laterally with the ball in the backline and lack real pace in the back three. Mvovo is the only one in the back three that belongs in this team, in my opinion, the other two have not shown anything to me that suggest that they have the flair and/or ability to create tries or opportunities for team mates. Whitehead (the No12) was the only one that ran straight and did show some nice acceleration and directness but was mostly skipped because of Michalack’s tendency to throw long passes to the outside.

The problem is Michalak habitually drift sideways after receiving the ball from McLeod who always seems to be running at least 5 steps laterally towards his flyhalf before he passes the ball. Pietersen on the outside also seems to favour the outside break which mostly doesn’t work because the defence has already been pulled laterally by the drifting McLeod and Michalak.

A disheartening week for the Sharks but the result of the travel factor and management (resting) of some key players (I hope).