'Not good enough': Sharks in danger of missing URC knockouts as coach Powell rues ill-discipline

Neil Powell rued his team’s ill-discipline after the Sharks went down 32-20 to a spirited and determined Scarlets in Wales on Saturday night.

The director of rugby said his charges conceded too many penalties to effectively mount a winning challenge as they slumped to their third straight defeat in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

It was also the Sharks’ fifth URC defeat since the turn of the year, during which they’ve only won two matches in the competition in 2023.

It’s put their playoff place in jeopardy. The Sharks hold just a two-point lead in eighth, the last playoff spot, ahead of Cardiff with two more round-robin matches to go.

READ | Sharks suffer third straight URC loss after scrappy defeat to Scarlets

"It was obviously a disappointing performance from us and the result as well," Powell said after the game.

"It was again a game where we let ourselves down because of our ill-discipline. Again, [we conceded] too many penalties that we put ourselves under pressure.

"We also had unforced errors. We knew coming into this game that Scarlets were feeding off those opportunities and those scraps, and unfortunately, we gave them those scraps and they scored two of their tries off our mistakes.

"All-round not good enough, not clinical enough in this game and we’ve only got ourselves to blame."

The Sharks next meet URC foes Munster in the Champions Cup quarter-finals at Kings Park on Saturday, a game that will show what this team is made of.

Powell said he hoped to see better team cohesion ahead of that elimination bout after decrying their individualistic showing at the Park y Scarlets.

"I also think it was a very individualistic performance by us. It feels like the guys tried hard individually but we didn’t try hard as a