“Our preparation was poor” Puia
By Taromane Martin
HEAD Coach for the Henderson Hammerhead Sharks Philip Campbell says their clubs’ development is heading in the right direction following a huge win over the weekend.
Hammerheads jumped top of the Honiara Rugby Union Association (HRUA) competition table after defeating defending champions Avaiki 13-8 in their pool game at the Panatina Rugby Oval on Saturday.
A converted try and two Bobby Sade penalty conversions saw Hammerheads clawing their way back in the second to beat an impressive young Avaiki side.
Avaiki lead 8-0 at the break via an unconverted try and a penalty kick but saw their defence crumbling early in the second half, Sharks going over for their try.
Two sinbins in the second half worsened the situation for the defending champions giving Hammerheads the opportunity for three points.
Avaiki Head Coach Leslie Puia said he was satisfied with his boy’s performance despite a tough week in training and vows to start their preparations for the top four play offs in their remaining fixture.
“I’m not disappointed with the result because games are that way. They won because they worked and prepared really well for the competition,” Coach Puia said.
“Our preparation for this match did not go according to plan. We had to miss two days of training due to the death of a relative and due to some player’s rugby league commitments.
“It was a really short time for us because we resumed our training on Wednesday so really had trouble having our team run and going through our combination play.
“However, I’m very satisfied with the boy’s performance despite our preparation being affected like I explained.
“And it was obvious as our performance in the first half was different compared to our performance in the second half.
“For our next game the boys need to show more commitment to training because that is the only way to avoid getting such results.
“We are already through for the top four play offs and our preparation for this stage will definitely start in our next game,” he adds.
Meanwhile his counterpart, Coach Campbell said it was a pleasing result for his boys after an ill disciplined first half and looks forward to taking on MOI in their final round robin match next weekend.
“Thanks to Avaiki for a good game today. I’m very pleased with the result. It was a tough game the score lines obviously showing that, 13-8.
“Certainly the club is moving in the right direction and obviously a lot of the hard work put in is starting to pay off and it showed today that the boys, even going up against one of the best teams in the competition can still do one better yet.
“First half we were a bit ill-disciplined in some areas resulting in Avaiki taking an early 8-0 lead but responded well in the second half to come back from behind for the win.
“We just talked, encouraged and reminded the boys to always remember the positive things we worked on during training and obviously it worked out nicely for us.
“I’m happy for the boys and our win over Avaiki today certainly puts us on top of the table with one more round left till the semi-finals.
“We look forward for our next match with MOI but yes I’m really happy with the boy’s performance today,” he adds.
