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Cape Town - While most felt that the match lacked quality, Sharks coach Robert du Preez believes his side's performance on Saturday was "outstanding" as they beat the Stormers in Durban.
Having trailed 7-3 at half-time in a woeful first half, the Sharks hit back in the second period to come away with a 24-17 victory.
It was a crucial win in terms of the Super Rugby play-off picture, and Du Preez was clearly satisfied with what he saw.
"We're very happy with the win. I think it was a great performance from the boys," he said after the match.
"As bad as it was last week, this was outstanding.
"To come back from a loss like that and put on a performance like this, I'm very happy. We know there were a couple of tries that we left out there, but the boys played really well."
Du Preez was referring to his side's 40-10 loss to the Bulls at Kings Park the week before. Following that match, the coach had questioned his side's effort on the field.
After the Stormers win, though, he offered a different reason for why the Sharks may have struggled against John Mitchell's side.
"We probably worked the boys too hard after a long tour of four weeks," he said.
"It takes time to get back into the rhythm and get used to the time difference. We made sure that the boys' energy levels were up and that's what made the difference today.
"There was great effort. That was the pleasing thing. It was really tough out there and we played against a team that was also desperate to win. All in all, I think it was a good game of rugby.
"We can't go backwards now ... we've got to build on this performance."
The Sharks, third in the South African Conference and ninth on the overall log, have a bye this week before hosting the Highlanders on May 5.
