Sharks 37-20 Scarlets: Dwayne Peel's men left to rue missed chances

The Scarlets put in a stirring effort in Durban against a star-studded Sharks team, but were left to rue a series of missed opportunities in the first half.

They came tantalisingly close to scoring tries three times in the opening period, but just weren’t quite able to nail them, leaving it all square 6-6 at the interval.

They did cross twice after the break through Aaron Shingler and Steff Evans, but the hosts doubled that tally, claiming the bonus point touchdown deep into stoppage time.

The Scarlets started really brightly against a team featuring no fewer than nine Springboks and came within a whisker of notching a try after just seven minutes.

It seemed as though outside-half Sam Costelow had done the business after appearing to win the race in chasing his own kick ahead.

But after repeated replays in a TMO check, the decision was that Sharks wing Aphelele Fassi had just got his fingertips to the ball ahead of Costelow grounding it.

Then came a moment winger Steff Evans will want to forget.

He seemed certain to score from a searing backs move, with full-back Tom Rogers hitting the line and giving the final pass.

But as Evans took off to produce an acrobatic one-handed finish in the corner, his foot just clipped the touchline and the try was ruled out.

The Scarlets did take a deserved lead through the boot of Costelow before going so close to a try yet again.

Brilliant work from dummying skipper Scott Williams off a lineout sent scrum-half Dane Blacker racing towards the whitewash, only for Siya Kolisi to snare him from behind.

Towards the end of the half, it was the Sharks who piled on the pressure, but they were denied by some heroic defence from the Scarlets.

So in the end, all the points in the opening period