After their win over the Bulls, Sbu Nkosi promises that his team will be even better against the Highlanders on Saturday
THE Sharks were delighted with their opening round Super Rugby win over the Bulls, a team they had not beaten in nine rounds of the competition, but World Cup-winning wing Sbu Nkosi promises that his team will be better against the Highlanders on Saturday.
Nkosi scored an opportunistic try where he beat opposite number Rosko Specman to the bounce of the ball in the Sharks’ 23-15 victory, but he says that the try meant little to him in the context of his team needing to win the match on the eve of their Super Rugby tour.
Reward the fans
“Man of the Match didn’t mean that much for me,” the 24-year-old said from Dunedin. “What was important for me was delivery at Kings Park where we let the home fans down a few times last season, and it was time for us to reward the home fans – that was on my mind the whole week.”
Nkosi, who last year lost his place in the Springbok line-up to Cheslin Kolbe because of injury, said his important try against the Bulls was instinctive.
“I had no idea that the ball would bounce that way for me,” he said. “I was just thinking that I must put pressure on Rosko, but then the ball bounced my way and it was a physical reaction to grab and ground the ball.”
The Johannesurg-born-and-bred Nkosi shone against the Bulls despite the humid conditions being unfavourable for backline activity and he is hopeful that the talented Sharks backline gets a chance to shine in the expected perfect conditions this weekend at Forsyth Barr Stadium, which boasts a closable roof.
“Hopefully this game will allow us to showcase our attacking prowess we definitely want the chance to attack more and to show that the game against the Bulls was not the limit of what the Sharks can do. “It will be a dry ball after the slippery conditions of Durban in early February. We will be able to handle the dry ball through multiple phases, which was not possible in Durban, so hopefully we can show what we are truly about,” Nkosi said.
The Sharks enjoy continuity in the backline from the Currie Cup, with Boks Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi slotting into and established combination headed by flyhalf Curwin Bosch.
“I find it amazing in rugby when you can bond with people,” Nkosi said. “It gets to a point when you do not need to communicate verbally. It means you can keep growing and build in such a good environment. We have that in the Sharks backline.”
The Sharks will tomorrow name their team to play the Highlanders.
