Neil Powell was delighted with the Sharks’ bonus-point victory against the Vodacom Bulls at Kings Park on Saturday which propelled them to fifth in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

The Bulls powered into an early 13-6 lead, before yellow cards to wing Canan Moodie and flank Cyle Brink weakened the visitors’ resolve against their Springbok-laden hosts, who produced a dominant performance to secure their fifth successive win in all competitions.

Rohan Janse Van Rensburg scored a brilliant intercept try in overtime to complete a 47-20 victory and speaking post-match on Saturday, Powell told reporters: “This is a big win for us, especially if you look at the URC log; we needed these five points.

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“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.”

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The director of rugby added: “Hopefully, as the season gets longer, we can put in 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.

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

The Sharks now travel to Ireland for a URC clash against Connacht at the Galway Sportsgrounds on Saturday night, before a Champions Cup rematch against Bordeaux in Durban a week later.

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