'Errors cost us,' says Powell on Sharks loss

REACTION: Neil Powell, the new Director of Coaching at the Sharks, says the men from Durban missed too many opportunities and should have been more clinical in their 27-40 United Rugby Championship loss to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this past Sunday.

Powell also acknowledged that a lot of individual errors by certain players let his team down.

“I think it was a game of missed opportunities in quite a few individual areas," Powell said.

"We would have loved to be more clinical in what we wanted to execute.

"We could have put more pressure on the Bulls in the first half but unfortunately we were not clinical enough in our execution of individual roles.

“If you can’t hang on to that confidence when you do have the momentum, good teams will punish you as the Bulls did in the second half. I felt the guys dropped their heads a bit early after the Bulls scored that early try.”

The names of Springbok Aphelele Fassi, who missed critical tackles, as well as the form of Vincent Tshituka in his first outing in a Sharks jersey, raised some eyebrows.

“From a defensive and individual perspective, there were a lot of players who missed tackles and that is something that we will have to address when we get back after the [November international] break.

“It is always tough when you come into a new team to fully understand your responsibilities.

"I think Vincent is still finding his feet a little. He is settling in nicely and hopefully, with the break and the sessions we will have, he can get more clarity about his role and what we want from him,” Powel explained.

Powell sidestepped the question of Vincent Koch and the rumours that the Sharks are about to make the big Springbok prop an offer.

On his role in the Sharks set-up and where that leaves Sean Everitt, he explained that the latter is still fully in charge on the field.

“My focus is more on structures and coaching structure. I feel we can make a lot of improvements in terms of our Academy and how we bring players through that system. That is pretty much my focus and Sean is still the head coach and he is taking responsibility for the training sessions.”

Powell also confirmed that all their stars will be back after the break and also that he will be playing a big role in the recruitment at the Sharks going forward.