Durban disaster! Sharks throw away Champions Cup spot in woeful Munster draw

The Sharks blew a 19-point lead to draw 22-22 with Munster at Kings Park, a result that has not only consigned them to a deadly trip to Dublin to face Leinster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-finals but cost them their Champions Cup participation next season.

European Professional Club Rugby rules dictate that the four URC Shield winners progress into the Champions Cup plus the next best four. By virtue of 11th-placed Cardiff winning the Welsh Shield, the eight-placed Sharks will now miss out on the competition.

Although their qualification for the URC last eight was confirmed before kick-off after the Stormers defeated Benetton on Friday night, the Sharks had a chance to push Connacht for seventh place ahead of their match with Glasgow later on Saturday evening.

RECAP | Sharks v Munster

But director of rugby Neil Powell’s men ran out of puff completely in the second half, casting a pall on a Sharks season that has slowly disintegrated.

Matters were made worse when their captain and fulcrum Springbok captain Siya Kolisi left the field with a knee injury, the severity of which is still unknown.

After three minutes, South Africa held its collective breath when Kolisi went down clutching his right knee after hyperextending his leg in a tackle near the try line.

The flanker was strapped up and carried on for a few minutes, a hint that the damage wasn’t as serious as feared.

But it was a red herring because, not long after, Kolisi limped off the field, replaced by Phepsi Buthelezi in what seemed like a sensible substitution with the Rugby World Cup defence in mind.

In the sixth minute, Bok hooker Bongi Mbonambi scored his third try against Munster in the same month after scoring twice in their 50-35 triumph in the