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

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 opener

While 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. Again I believe that if the performance is good, the result will come by itself," he added. 

Powell acknowledged that his team were under pressure following the cards received by Nche and Mbonambi and said that overall, the Sharks' discipline would need to improve.    

The Sharks fly out to France for the Bordeaux clash, which takes place on Friday at 22:00.