Lwazi Mvovo

Cell C Sharks winger Lwazi Mvovo says defeat in their season opening Super Rugby match hardly matters, as it is more important to finish well.

“It’s still the 1st round and there’s a lot of rounds to go. The most important thing is not how you start, but how you finish,” he said in Durban on Tuesday.

The Durban franchise suffered a surprise 35 / 29 home loss to the Toyota Cheetahs last weekend in one of several shock results in the competition.

The defending champions, the Waratahs, and multiple winners the Crusaders also lost their opening games.

“I don’t think there’s a weak team in this competition. The teams that won deserved to win their games,” Mvovo said.

“It’s the 1st round and possibly teams will be trying out new things. For us we made a lot of mistakes and this week we’re trying to rectify that and just play our own game.”

Playing at home was more pressure, he said, and could be the reason why 6 out of the 7 host sides were beaten.

“There’s a bit of extra pressure with home teams, playing in front of their crowd and on their fields. Sometimes that stresses you out.”

However, Mvovo felt their defeat to the Free Staters came as a result of their own errors and failure to execute their game plan.

“We didn’t play to our game plan. We played in the wrong areas of the field and the Cheetahs punished us, so we’re trying to fix those mistakes.”

The 28-year-old enjoys working under new director of rugby Gary Gold, saying his plan to try and play more attractive rugby was something all defenders cherished.

“If you ask any wing or fullback, they want the ball in their hand.

“That’s what the game plan is and you can see the guys they’re enjoying the game plan. They want to work harder and improve on it.”

Meanwhile, the Sharks confirmed on Tuesday that captain Bismarck du Plessis overcame his shoulder problem and would feature this week.

SuperSport