Sharks not too bruised from Loftus defeat
It was a tough return to action for the Cell C Sharks last week when they suffered a heavy 41-14 loss to the Bulls in Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked, however they aren't ringing alarm bells ahead of their showdown with the Pumas this weekend.
The defeat was a tough one to swallow for the players and fans given how the Sharks had dismantled the Bulls in Super Rugby at the beginning of the year. It must be said that the current Bulls side is light-years ahead of where they were eight months ago.
The Sharks have made peace with the result from the weekend and they understand the areas that they need to work on. Captain of the side Lukhanyo Am isn't looking too deeply into the result from last weekend.
"It's always tough playing at Loftus but I don't think the result bruised our confidence that much," the World Cup winning centre said. "We knew what went wrong and what happened so we know what we have to rectify going into this week.
"Looking to this week we know that going to Mbombela is a tough outing and we are geared up and ready for the Pumas."
Despite the troubles that the Sharks experienced against a strong and disciplined Bulls outfit, Am is adament that his side will continue to play the rugby that gave them success in the first part of this year.
"It's still too early to think of changing how we play, or questioning how we play because we have seen it work before.
"We are going to back our game model and going into this weekend there won't be many changes to the model but we will tweak the tactics to suit the team we are playing.
"We will try and continue to play the style of rugby that we have been playing," Am added.
Despite the stop-start beginning to the season for the Sharks, Am doesn't think that it's an excuse for their performance.
"All unions in South Africa went through the same stages of lockdown and preparations but maybe we lost some momentum after that first game.
"Going into the next few weeks where we play consecutive games I think the momentum and the continuity will be much better," he mentioned.
The Pumas beat Griquas in their competition opener and then lost narrowly to the Stormers last weekend which means they will be a difficult prospect at home this Saturday for the Sharks.
