Sharks prop Vincent Koch hails culture change under coach JP Pietersen

On Wednesday, the Durban franchise announced that Pietersen would be taking over the head coach role permanently after five wins from seven matches in the interim role.

"I think the change is that we just play for each other," the double World Cup winner told the Sharks' website.

"When coach JP came in, he spoke about what the jersey means and to play for each other. We're starting to build a nice culture of caring for each other. For us, it's about being closer to one another: if we're closer off the field, you'll fight harder on the field.

"You can clearly see the boys are fighting, chasing seemingly lost causes and you can see the love for each other.

"That's been a stand-out thing, you can see the enjoyment and freedom the boys are playing with, they're playing without fear because there's no pressure on players.

"When coach JP stepped in, he took all that pressure away and allowed us to play with freedom."

The group is coming off a well-earned two-week break. It's been virtually non-stop rugby through South Africa's summer that culminated in back-to-back upsets of the seemingly untouchable Stormers.

Now face the Lions this weekend in a rescheduled United Rugby Championship clash in Johannesburg.

"After a two-week break when we had some good family time and were able to clear our minds after a big period of rugby, we came together refocused," continued Koch.

"It was a time coach JP and the coaches set our next goals, we have two games now and we're focused on what we can do better.

"Against the Stormers, there were some good things, a huge team effort that showed the growth of the team, but also some work-ons and we've spent the last few days working on how we can do better and prepping for the big game on Saturday.

"We're fresh now, those two games were mentally and physically draining and the break we had was important."

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