Neil Powell Britain France Durban Champions Cup Sharks Rugby win cup on Neil Powell Britain France Durban

Powell on Sharks' opening Champions Cup win: 'Performance-wise, it was a massive step up'

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Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell has a happy man following his side's 39-31 win over English outfit Harlequins in their opening Champions Cup fixture in Durban on Saturday.READ | 13-man Sharks beat Harlequins in enthralling, controversial Champions Cup openerWhile the Sharks were impressive for large parts of the game, a red card to Ox Nche for a dangerous tackle with 20 minutes to go, followed by a yellow card for hooker Bongi Mbonambi put the coastal franchise under immense pressure in the closing stages of the match.

Powell's charges hung on, however,  and sealed the match with a try by fullback Boeta Chamberlain in the 78th minute. Speaking afterwards, Powell was happy with how his side played and said their performance was a massive step up from the scratchy win against Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship a week earlier.

Powell highlighted the critical factor that winning at home would play in the pool stages of the Champions Cup.  "Only having four games in your pool [means] it's important to get the positive results, especially in your home games.

If you slip up here, it will be tough to get into the knock-out stages," he said. "The positive result was really important, and I think performance-wise, it was good, a massive step up from last week against Ospreys.

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