Sharks coach Sean Everitt has heaped praise on his star fullback Aphelele Fassi for his ability to change the complexion of the game and helping the side overcome the Scarlets in a United Rugby Championship (URC) match in Durban.
The 24-year-old produced a man-of-the match performance and drove a second half resurgence as the Sharks fought back to claim a 37-20 bonus-point victory over their visitors on Friday night.
Fassi scored one of the Sharks’ four tries while the others were scored by Curwin Bosch and Marius Louw.
“He (Fassi) is playing great rugby at the moment and he just got his second man-of the-match, two games in a row, so well done to him and he did turn the game on its head when Jaden put that little kick through for him,” Everitt said after the game.
Fassi also starred in the Sharks’ win over Benetton in Italy a fortnight ago.
Though the two sides went to halftime locked at 6-all, the Sharks were under the pump for most of the first 40 minutes as Welsh side the Scarlets handled playing in Durban’s hot and humid weather better than the home team.
Everitt said the game was a wake-up call for his team not to think away teams will always struggle when they come to Durban because of the city’s weather.
“The conditions were difficult. I thought the Scarlets handled the conditions better than us,” said Everitt.
“I think they executed the kicking plan better than us. Our kicking accuracy wasn’t good tonight and it put us under pressure for the first 20 minutes of the game and when we started kicking better in the second half, we made it easy for ourselves. That’s a 'work-on' for us.
“The conditions aren’t easy in Durban and it was certainly difficult to hold onto the ball. There were quite a few turnovers in the game and we knew that if we turned the ball over they'd be able to punish us,” he said.
The victory lifted the Sharks to position 6 on the URC log table with 31 points after 11 outings. They lead the SA conference as well.
The Sharks will welcome the URC stragglers to Kings Park on Saturday, March 19.
Everitt heaps praise on Bok utility back Aphelele Fassi
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Sharks coach Sean Everitt has heaped praise on his star fullback Aphelele Fassi for his ability to change the complexion of the game and helping the side overcome the Scarlets in a United Rugby Championship (URC) match in Durban.
The 24-year-old produced a man-of-the match performance and drove a second half resurgence as the Sharks fought back to claim a 37-20 bonus-point victory over their visitors on Friday night.
Fassi scored one of the Sharks’ four tries while the others were scored by Curwin Bosch and Marius Louw.
“He (Fassi) is playing great rugby at the moment and he just got his second man-of the-match, two games in a row, so well done to him and he did turn the game on its head when Jaden put that little kick through for him,” Everitt said after the game.
Fassi also starred in the Sharks’ win over Benetton in Italy a fortnight ago.
Though the two sides went to halftime locked at 6-all, the Sharks were under the pump for most of the first 40 minutes as Welsh side the Scarlets handled playing in Durban’s hot and humid weather better than the home team.
Everitt said the game was a wake-up call for his team not to think away teams will always struggle when they come to Durban because of the city’s weather.
“The conditions were difficult. I thought the Scarlets handled the conditions better than us,” said Everitt.
“I think they executed the kicking plan better than us. Our kicking accuracy wasn’t good tonight and it put us under pressure for the first 20 minutes of the game and when we started kicking better in the second half, we made it easy for ourselves. That’s a 'work-on' for us.
“The conditions aren’t easy in Durban and it was certainly difficult to hold onto the ball. There were quite a few turnovers in the game and we knew that if we turned the ball over they'd be able to punish us,” he said.
The victory lifted the Sharks to position 6 on the URC log table with 31 points after 11 outings. They lead the SA conference as well.
The Sharks will welcome the URC stragglers to Kings Park on Saturday, March 19.
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‘Springboks must stay in the Rugby Championship,’ argues Wynand Olivier
Second-half resurgence by the Sharks helps them beat Scarlets in Durban
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