Neil Powell hails Sharks' 'big win' over Bulls: 'It's a sign of a confident team'

Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell said the 47-20 victory over the Bulls at Kings Park on Saturday was a "big win" and an "important win" relative to the United Rugby Championship (URC) league table.

The Sharks blew the Bulls out the water with a 10-minute burst before half-time before closing off the contest with a flurry of Rohan Janse van Rensburg tries.

In all, the hosts scored four touchdowns to the visitors’ two in a game where the Bulls’ defence and discipline disintegrated.

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The win took Powell’s charges to fifth on the URC standings, just five points behind the Bulls in fourth, with two games in hand.

"This is a big win for us, especially if you look at the URC log; we needed these five points," said Powell, whose side suffered a 40-27 reverse against the Bulls at Loftus late in October.

"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."

Powell’s happiness was writ large after the match, which was their fifth win in all competitions on the bounce.

He, however, tried to quickly rein back his own unfurled smile to remind his charges that they needed to display their quality for 80 minutes after being on the back foot in the opening half-hour.

"Hopefully, as the season gets