URC: Hollywoodbets Sharks seeking 80-minute performance against Dragons

“What’s important for us is we’ve taken the lessons out of the game, and now we really have to look forward to the challenge that the Dragons will bring. They also have some quality players and some strengths in certain areas,” said the former Springbok skipper.

“[The start of games is] an area where we can definitely be better. It’s just about being more accurate within those first 20 minutes and applying pressure and transferring pressure if need be.

“And then keeping the ball in hand, if we’re in the right areas and putting points on the board.

“We were definitely happy with the intensity that we played at in that first-half. Connacht did start well, and we struggled to exit probably in the first 15 to 20 minutes but once we exited well and were really accurate, we put a lot of pressure on them. We scored some nice tries.

“We just couldn’t match them in that second half in terms of intensity and they really targeted our breakdown in that second half. [They] got a lot of reward in that area and of course, at set-piece time our maul defence is something that we really have to improve on.”

Sharks captain Vincent Tshituka agrees that his side still has work to do to iron out certain areas of their game.

“It’s obviously a disappointing second half from our side. There were a lot of factors that went into that, but nothing that we pay much attention to. We know what we are expected to deliver in those games, and Connacht stepped it up and we didn’t match that in the second half and they got the better of us.”

With a long campaign still ahead, Whiteley says the group is enjoying continuing to evolve as a unit.

“It’s a lekker challenge for us, and obviously it’s nice to be on tour as well. It’s great to tour at the beginning of the season, it feels like we’re getting tighter as a group and learning more about each other, so it’s awesome.”