Sharks will rise again, says JP Pietersen after Currie Cup annihilation at the hands of the Bulls

A proud former Springbok, JP Pietersen cut a disconsolate figure after his Sharks side were smashed 64-0 by the Bulls in a second-round Currie Cup fixture at the weekend. What made it worse was having to sift through the wreckage in search of positives.

Sharks director of rugby John Plumtree has tasked Pietersen with treating the Currie Cup as a development platform to unearth players capable of competing in the United Rugby Championship (URC). While that broader vision holds merit, it doesn’t make the weekly hammerings any easier to bear.

Pietersen has effectively been asked to take boys into battle against men — and it shows. The Sharks have conceded more than 100 points in two games, and the scale of the Bulls' demolition job was the heaviest defeat between the sides in the tournament’s history.

The bigger challenge is public perception. Sharks fans, largely unmoved by long-term planning, only see the scoreboard — and their frustration is mounting.

“It is a tough one,” Pietersen said with considerable understatement.

“Our chief objective is to develop players. The URC is a long season, and the Sharks want to increase their depth. A number of our players will be away with the Springboks.

“Our opponents over the last two weeks, the Lions and the Bulls, maybe see things differently if you look at their starting line-ups.”

The plan, as Pietersen explains, is to find players now who can tour Europe when the URC resumes.

“We have goals to win the URC and/or the Champions Cup,” he said.

“Plum is looking for players capable of touring in the URC after the Currie Cup. Discovering players up to that task is our chief objective.”

There were, at least, small flickers of defiance in the closing stages at Loftus. With fears mounting that the Bulls might hit triple figures, the Sharks rallied to stem the bleeding.

“We were better in the final quarter,” Pietersen acknowledged.

“Will we turn it around? I believe we will. There will always be a fight from us. We will have a full crack at the Cheetahs next week in Durban.

“As a coach, you hurt for the players. It is hard to see your players broken in the change room.”

Pietersen admitted his side had been physically dominated.

“We lost it in the collisions. The Bulls ruled the breakdown. Jeandré Rudolph was excellent.

"They stole the ball and shut us down. Their kicking and contesting game was good. They were clinical and played a near-perfect game.

“If I look back as a player, you either sink or build resilience and rise again.

“I don’t have all the answers. There will always be a temptation to bring in senior guys, but the URC is the goal. Coach Plum has made that clear.

"There will always be that chat in South Africa about how we go in the Currie Cup — and we are not where we want to be. But there is a full season to go.”