O'Connell led from the front as his side made it four wins from four
Lions skipper Paul O'Connell says his side put in their best performance of the tour so far as they defeated a stubborn Sharks side 39-3 in Durban.
The tourists were only 7-3 ahead at the break but they produced a stirring second-half display to claim a comfortable five-try win.
"I think a lot of things came together," said O'Connell, after the Lions continued their unbeaten run.
"We looked a lot more like a team than we have done in the last few weeks."
O'Connell was delighted with how the Lions kept the Sharks try-less at the ABSA Stadium as the tourists build for the first Test against South Africa on 20 June.
"One of the biggest things is the defence, we've got four defensive systems trying to come together and play under one system and it came together well," he said.
"They had a lot of the ball there at the end and everyone looked very comfortable defending together."
The Lions have struggled at the breakdown so far in South Africa but the Munster lock believes his side are getting to grips with the contact area.
"The breakdown is the most important part of the game right now, no doubt about it, wherever you play," he added. "I thought we made a big improvement and I think we'll continue to improve."
O'Connell was also satisfied with his side's patience after they ended up with only seven points despite dominating the first half.
"We would have liked to have got more points from the pressure and the possession we had in the first half, but were very patient and the points began to rack up," he added.
"Pressure is very hard to defend against constantly and I think it paid off - the longer we stuck at it, the points did come.
"If we didn't trust each other, it would have been very easy for the team to get frustrated out there."
Head coach Ian McGeechan was also a happy man, saying that his side put in a "very strong performance".
"I'm very pleased," he said. "Very strong discipline, patience and I am very pleased that it was right through the 80 minutes.
"I thought we didn't panic, we were just building a performance tonight and reaped the benefits in the second half. Our defence was outstanding, absolutely superb."
Forwards coach Warren Gatland insists that the Lions can take a lot of positives from how they performed.
"We were very happy at half-time with the possession we'd had against one of the top provincial sides in South Africa," he said.
"Any group of players can last for 40 minutes and the Sharks gave it everything in those first 40 minutes. We just said to stay patient and stick to the game plan and the pressure will tell."
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?