The Sharks were let down by inaccuracies and not being clinical enough, according to Director of Rugby Neil Powell, after they fell to a disappointing 31-24 United Rugby Championship loss to Ulster at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts face an Ulster side devoid of international stars who have Six Nations duty and will be aiming for a win to lift the URC table and into contention for a top four spot.
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But despite taking a flyer on the match with the first try to scrumhalf Grant Williams, the Sharks went into the break trailing and had to play catch up rugby for the rest of the match, with Ulster using the maul to particularly devastating effect.
“It’s a disappointing result. We were really hoping to get at least four points in this game. I think we let ourselves down because of our inaccuracy,” explained Powell after the match.
“We scored points, received the start again and could not remove the pressure and made more pressure. I think the first 15 minutes the way we wanted to play Ulster. But unfortunately after the water break we lost some momentum.
“We gave him a lot of chances to attack inside or just outside the 22m and I think because we weren’t as clinical as we wanted.”
Bonus points
Despite the discomfort, the Stormers were able to take two points from the match, as they lost in seven and scored four tries, which cemented their place in the top eight and kept them in touch with the top four.
But they need to improve drastically if they want to make a play for the play-offs ahead, starting with the maul defense which was exposed against Ulster.
“If they (Ulster) score three maul tries, you’ll feel exposed. That’s something we have to do every game because that’s the challenge we’re going to face every weekend,” Powell said.
“It was a small comfort to get two points from the game. We wanted four, but two kept us in the race and kept us on the log.
An enjoyable journey
Looking ahead the Sharks now face a daunting trip to Cape Town where they will take on the high flying Stormers and risk losing more to the top team in the race for the top four.
“The Stormers are a very good team. There is a reason why they are second on the log. They play a good brand of rugby and a holistic game. You have to be accurate in all areas of the game if you don’t want to be punished by them,” Powell said.
“We have to make sure that the plan that we have for them is a very good plan. We have talked a little bit about the game and how we play. So we have to make sure that we are good in all areas of the game or we will be punished.