The Sharks were let down by inaccuracy and not being clinical enough, according to Director of Rugby Neil Powell, after they fell to a disappointing 31-24 United Rugby Championship defeat against Ulster at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts were facing an Ulster side bereft of their international stars who were on Six Nations duty and were targeting a win to lift them up the URC table and into contention for a top four placing.
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But despite getting off to a flyer in the match with a first minute try to scrumhalf Grant Williams, the Sharks went into the break trailing and had to play catch up rugby the rest of the match, with Ulster using their maul to particularly devastating effect.
“It was a disappointing outcome. We were really hoping to get at least four points in this game. I think at times we let ourselves down from individual inaccuracies,” explained Powell after the match.
“We scored points, received the restart and then couldn’t relieve the pressure and put ourselves under more pressure. I think that first 15 minutes was the way we wanted to play Ulster. But unfortunately after that water break we lost a bit of momentum.
“We gave them too many opportunities to maul inside or just outside our 22m and I think that was due to us not being clinical enough in the way we wanted to exit.”
Bonus points
Although it is of small comfort the Stormers did manage to pick up two points from the match, due to losing within seven and scoring four tries, which solidified their place in the top eight and kept them in touch with the top four.
But they will need to improve drastically if they want to make a play for a home play-off, starting with their maul defence which was exposed against Ulster.
“If they (Ulster) score three maul tries you will always feel exposed. It is something we have to get right every single game because that is a challenge we will face every weekend,” admitted Powell.
“It’s a small comfort to get two points out of the game. We wanted four, but two keeps us in the race and keeps us well placed on the log.”
Daunting trip
Looking ahead the Sharks now face a daunting trip to Cape Town where they will take on the high flying Stormers and risk losing further ground on the teams above them in the race for the top four.
“The Stormers are a really 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,” said Powell.
“We will have to make sure that the plan we have for them is a really good plan. We have chatted a little bit about that game and how we want to play them. So we have to make sure that we are good in all areas of the game or we will be punished.”
