Captain Siya Kolisi says that if the Sharks don’t start converting their scoring opportunities, they’re “going to battle” to win again in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
Edinburgh beat the Sharks 21-5 at a drenched Kings Park on Saturday, ending a run of four successive wins for the Durbanites, as well as inflicting the first home loss for a South African team in 10 URC matches at home.
But, Kolisi has insisted that the hosts squandered too many chances to punish the Scottish visitors, and paid the price.
“We did all the hard work but didn’t take our opportunities and you have to take them in this competition,” he said. “If you don’t convert those opportunities, you’re going to battle.
“Edinburgh controlled the pace of the game and although we wanted to up the pace, we couldn’t.”
Sean Everitt was as disappointed by the Sharks’ profligacy, the coach adding: “Edinburgh kept us out defensively. We got our maul going and got momentum at times, but we could not get over the line, so credit to them for that.
“I think our plan worked quite well, we had patience in our kicking game although at times we overcooked our box-kicks which gave them space to counter-attack.
“If you go back to Super Rugby, if you were off your game on your day you got a big hiding, so for us, it is about being more accurate in our execution.
“We got ourselves into good positions on the field but were not clinical enough to finish off while Edinburgh did well to keep us out.”
