Powell rues 'costly' two yellow cards as Sharks sink in Dublin

Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell rued his side's two yellow cards that proved costly in their 35-5 defeat to Leinster in Dublin on Saturday.

The result put an end to the Sharks' European hopes as they lost another United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final.

The Sharks were in the fight in Dublin, even scoring a sublime opening try through scrumhalf Grant Williams.

That was until the URC log leaders stepped it up a gear and scored their first try through Caelan Doris. 

MATCH REPORT | Unflappable Leinster eliminate lacklustre Sharks to book URC semi-final place

URC quarter-final results:

Ulster 10-15 Connacht

Stormers 33-21 Bulls

Leinster 35-5 Sharks

Glasgow Warriors 5-14 Munster

Semi-final fixtures:

Saturday, 13 May

Stormers v Connacht, Cape Town - 16:00

Leinster v Munster, Dublin - 18:30

In a poor attempt to stop the Leinster No 8, Sharks wing Makazole Mapimpi made contact with Doris' neck, resulting in a sin-bin. 

Leinster ratcheted up their attack to go from 7-5 up in the 15th minute to 21-5 after just 25 minutes. It was a calamitous 10-minute period from which the Sharks never recovered.

"We had a great start but, unfortunately, the yellow card we conceded in the first half was costly," said Powell post-game.

"They scored two tries in that time. Even at half-time, the guys still had the belief that we can be competitive in the second half and have a chance to be successful.

"But it came down to opportunities: the one just before half-time, even three points would have made a difference as it would have taken us to within two scores instead of three.

"It's small things in a game that give you belief and momentum and get you into a positive mindset. We just weren't clinical enough.

"We missed a few opportunities in the first