Sharks coach Sean Everitt was left to rue a number of individual errors as his side was knocked off its United Rugby Championship (URC) purple patch by Edinburgh in Durban.
Before Saturday's 21-5 defeat to the Scottish side the Sharks had enjoyed four victories in a row, placing themselves as real competitors for the knockout stage.
But failing to swim, to almost everyone's surprise, at a wet Kings Parks saw the Sharks break that winning streak, thanks to individual errors and mostly Curwin Bosch’s horrible kicking on the night.
“There were a lot of individual errors there and credit must go to Edinburgh for the way they kept us out defensively. We got our maul going at times and we got momentum, but we couldn’t get over the line,” Everitt complained after the match.
“It’s extremely frustrating when you are creating chances and you can’t finish. In these games, against top teams, you need to take every opportunity and you certainly need to take points when they are on offer.”
The Sharks host another international side in Dragons of Wales at Kings Park on Friday night (7.30pm). Both teams will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing weekend after the Welsh side was mauled 55-20 by the Bulls in Pretoria.
However, Everitt expects all the European sides to be tougher for the rest of the URC.
“All the European teams will be stronger than what we faced over the past few weeks due to the fact that they are getting players from the Six Nations. No team in this competition can be underestimated,” Everitt said.
“If you go back to Super Rugby, if you were off on your day, you got a big hiding. For us it’s about being more accurate in our execution next week and hoping to improve on those errors next Friday night.”
The Sharks will be hoping to have influential fullback Aphelele Fassi back from injury, and it’s still to be seen if the Bulls-linked Sbu Nkosi will make the team when he recovers from his “gastric intestine virus” that has ruled him out for the past three weeks.
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Sharks coach Everitt rues costly mistakes against Edinburgh
Sharks coach Sean Everitt was left to rue a number of individual errors as his side was knocked off its United Rugby Championship (URC) purple patch by Edinburgh in Durban.
Before Saturday's 21-5 defeat to the Scottish side the Sharks had enjoyed four victories in a row, placing themselves as real competitors for the knockout stage.
But failing to swim, to almost everyone's surprise, at a wet Kings Parks saw the Sharks break that winning streak, thanks to individual errors and mostly Curwin Bosch’s horrible kicking on the night.
“There were a lot of individual errors there and credit must go to Edinburgh for the way they kept us out defensively. We got our maul going at times and we got momentum, but we couldn’t get over the line,” Everitt complained after the match.
“It’s extremely frustrating when you are creating chances and you can’t finish. In these games, against top teams, you need to take every opportunity and you certainly need to take points when they are on offer.”
The Sharks host another international side in Dragons of Wales at Kings Park on Friday night (7.30pm). Both teams will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing weekend after the Welsh side was mauled 55-20 by the Bulls in Pretoria.
However, Everitt expects all the European sides to be tougher for the rest of the URC.
“All the European teams will be stronger than what we faced over the past few weeks due to the fact that they are getting players from the Six Nations. No team in this competition can be underestimated,” Everitt said.
“If you go back to Super Rugby, if you were off on your day, you got a big hiding. For us it’s about being more accurate in our execution next week and hoping to improve on those errors next Friday night.”
The Sharks will be hoping to have influential fullback Aphelele Fassi back from injury, and it’s still to be seen if the Bulls-linked Sbu Nkosi will make the team when he recovers from his “gastric intestine virus” that has ruled him out for the past three weeks.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.