Sharks boss Neil Powell laments ill-discipline and inaccuracy

There was a late rally with the Stormers down to 13 men, but ultimately the Sharks were outplayed across the park, losing 29-23 in front of over 30 000 fans at Cape Town Stadium.

"The guys showed a lot of confidence out there but yet again individual inaccuracy in the last eight minutes and ill-discipline in the first half put us on the back foot," said Powell, as per rugby365.com.

"We know the Stormers is a team that feeds off your mistakes and that is how they scored the first few tries. It is very difficult when you play catch-up against them.

"At half-time, we [coaches] tried to change the guys' mindset and urged them to stick to our plan and be disciplined and they did and it showed in the second half."

The loss leaves the Sharks in a precarious position on the URC table as the race to the top eight playoff positions heats up. Their 41 points puts them in seventh place, with Connacht just two points adrift. This, combined with some difficult upcoming fixtures, means the pressure is on to deliver results. This was not lost on Powell...

"It does become a case of a win at all costs," he continued.

"Our next game is against Scarlets and we looked at their game against Munster [on Friday] and how they came back and almost won. Therefore, going to Wales and getting results will definitely be tough.

"Luckily we will have the services of the Springboks, but it does make it tricky because we will have to play away and then return to Durban to play against Munster."