Brumbies win was massive for Sharks – Lambie
Cell C Sharks captain Pat Lambie says their win over the Brumbies was a massive confidence booster for the young team.
Listen to the full interview, or read the story below.
The Sharks grabbed a last gasp win over the Brumbies in Canberra over the weekend, with Lukhanyo Am scoring a try in extra time to secure victory.
The scores were level in the last few minutes of the game and Sharks skipper Pat Lambie used a short break in play to give his charges the motivation to go for victory in Canberra.
“We had a little stoppage in play with three or four minutes to go and I had a chat to the guys. I said listen we’ve got to believe that we can win this game and thankfully it worked out in the end,” Lambie said.
“It was a big focus for us that week to make sure we play right to the last move of the game. We really wanted to finish the tour off on a good note. We were really disappointed with how we’d played against the Reds, let alone the result so to play right to the death there and score the winning try after the hooter was amazing, you could see how much it meant to the whole group,” Lambie said.
Considering the number of upcoming players in the team, Lambie hopes that the win will boost confidence and belief in the young group.
“Hopefully there are more celebrations like that but for all our fans, hopefully we don’t have to wait to the 82nd minute to wrap the games up. A win like that is huge for any team, especially a group with a lot of young faces in it. Those tight games that go right down to the wire, if you come on top it goes a long way to building confidence and momentum for the rest of the season – also where you sit on the log at the end of the season,” the skipper said.
Wounded from their loss to the Reds, the Sharks were more competitive against the Brumbies and thrived with the possession they had. On a number of occasions, Lambie weighed up his options from penalties, seemingly torn between kicking for poles and setting up lineouts. He admitted that his forwards are always keen to have a crack at scoring from their set pieces but he is learning that each situation needs to be considered carefully.
“It takes a lot to convince the forwards not to kick for the corner, they always want to have a go at scoring from a driving maul. We actually reviewed some of the decisions we made on the field. I guess it’s about summing up the momentum and going with your gut feel sometimes.”
“We’ve had instances where the opposition have been a player short with a yellow card, sometimes it’s a forward and sometimes it’s a back. There are times where you like to keep momentum going and build pressure, to kick for the corner or take a scrum. Then there are other times where you say let’s take the points, get out of here and come back and try score some more.
"I’d like to keep growing and learning in that regard, I do look to the other players around me and try pick up the feeling that they get as well. We’ve chatted to Rob and the other coaches as well, so going forward we’d like to back ourselves and kick for the corner but we’re not going to be silly and keep going if we’re not getting any reward there," Lambie said.
The Sharks host the Waratahs at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday in their first home game of the 2017 Super Rugby season. Kickoff is at 19h30.