Sharks are confident of bouncing back from Leinster against Lyon

THE Sharks’ defence of their Challenge Cup title begins in earnest on Saturday, where they travel to Lyon for a last-16 match, and Sharks assistant coach Joey Mongalo says his team is in good spirits despite humbling to Leinster last week.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

Sharks fans have been scratching their heads at who shows up full of Irish internationals and packed at home Leinster side devoid of their big Ireland stars and packed with Academy players.

But defence coach Mongalo says the team sees things differently and they travel to France with their confidence intact.

“We’re a group that puts things in context,” he said. “It’s important that we analyse the game irrespective of their missing Ireland internationals. Was it a top quality Leinster team that presented the week before? Yes. Leinster had to beat us to qualify, where as we had already qualified.

“Mongalo feels the positives of the Sharks’ performance outweigh the negatives. “There were quite a few positive points, we are from the game. Our attacking, kicking and game management were nine out of 10. On attack, we created plenty of opportunities but didn’t execute some of them. More about us finishing than the actual attack, which was very good.”

“And defensively, I thought the boys put in some good sets. There was a three-minute defensive set on our own tryline, which says a lot about this group - how they’re growing and how much they care for each other.”