Sharks' lack of discipline costs them against Harlequins

The Sharks probably gave their worst performance since director of rugby Neil Powell took over the coaching reins when they lost 39-29 to the Harlequins in the Champions Cup at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

The Quins, who led 24-22 in the first half, gave a strong second-half performance to clinch the victory.

The Sharks’ game was riddled with mistakes as they conceded too many penalties to record their first defeat under Powell, who replaced Sean Everitt in November last year.

When a youthful Sharks lost to Connacht in a United Rugby Championship match in Ireland a fortnight ago, Powell stayed at home with the first choice team to prepare for last week's Champions Cup game against Bordeaux.

The Sharks’ discipline issues saw one of their tries being ruled out after it was discovered that one of their players made a bad tackle in the build-up.

The tries from Danny Care, Alex Dombrandt, Cadan Murley, Stephan Lewies, and Nick David gave the Harlequins the crucial bonus-point win against the Sharks.

Lukhanyo Am, Jaden Hendrikse, Eben Etzebeth and Aphelele Fassi all scored as the Sharks took home a losing bonus point.

The Sharks went to London having already secured their spot in the round of 16.

However, the Durban-based franchise still had a lot to play for as they were looking for a victory to strengthen their chances of playing the round of 16 and quarterfinal clashes at home.

Also, the Quins needed a victory at all costs to give themselves a chance to move into the next round.

The hosts knew it would take a lot of hard work to get the desired result against the men from the Zulu kingdom who reigned supreme when the two sides met in Durban in December.

But the Sharks missed a handful of players that played in that game including the injured Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi, Boeta Chamberlain, the suspended Makazole Mapimpi and Werner Kok.

The players that were not available scored all five of the Sharks’ tries in Durban.

 The Sharks made a fast start to the clash as they scored their first try through Am in the second minute of the match.

The try came from an excellent play which was started by Am and combined with fullback Aphelele Fassi and Thaakir Abrahams.

But after that the Sharks’ defence struggled to deal with the pace of the Quins’ attack as the visitors kept on conceding penalties.

The home side responded with three tries in succession with the first one scored by Care coming just four minutes after the Sharks’.

Dombrandt and Murley added their names on the scoresheet to give the Harlequins control of the game before the first quarter of the clash.

However, the Sharks showed no sign of giving up as they scored two more tries through Hendrikse and Etzebeth as they trailed by two just points at halftime.

The Sharks’ discipline issues continued in the second half as former Sharks player Lewies and David scored two more tries for the Quins.

The Sharks could only manage just a single try by Fassi late in the match.

Scorers

Harlequins: Danny Care, Alex Dombrandt, Cadan Murley, Stephan Lewies, Nick David Conversions: Marcus Smith (4) Penalties: Smith (2)

Sharks: Lukhanyo Am, Jaden Hendrikse, Eben Etzebeth, Aphelele Fassi Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2), Lionel Cronje Penalty: Bosch

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