Everitt wants more from Sharks

REACTION: It was a successful trip to Italy for the Sharks. However, head coach Sean Everitt admitted there is still room for improvement.

The Sharks bagged a 29-7 bonus-point win over Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.

The win propelled the Sharks into eighth place on the overall United Rugby Championship table and on top of the South African Shield.

"We are very happy with the win," Sharks coach Sean Everitt said, adding: "Glad that we can get the five points on the road.

"The result puts us into the top eight and top of the South African Shield."

With the majority of Benetton's first-choice players missing due to international duty,  the Sharks - loaded with World Cup-winning Springboks - were expected to dominate proceedings.

And for a large majority of the match, the South African side lived up to the expectation.

They scored three tries and took a 21-0 lead at the break.

However, the Durban side struggled in the second half and had to dig deep to secure the bonus-point try with only one minute left on the clock.

"It was not a perfect performance, there's still loads of work to do, but the boys stuck in it," Everitt said.

"There were moments that we played outstanding rugby.

"And credit has to go to Benetton. They put us under pressure, especially at the set-piece - we did not have our way in that area and definitely have to look at it.

"There is always room for improvement.

He added: "We look forward to playing a run of home games and hopefully making some progress on the log."

The Sharks host the Scarlets on Friday, March 11 followed by a fixture against Zebre on March 19.

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