RUGBY NEWS - The coach’s short, terse press conference suggested that once again the Cell C Sharks felt that they’d been done in by the match officials in a loss to the Emirates Lions, but the reality is they made the mistakes that cost them their Vodacom Super Rugby quarterfinal.

No one would disagree that the Sharks were magnificent in the way they raised their game against a team that has tended to dominate them in recent times. When the Sharks are up for a game, they are a fine team.

Their defence proved tireless, physical and committed, and forced key Lions players to have to answer piercing questions about their ability to play under pressure. For a long time it looked like one of those upsets that the Sharks have been famous for - ever since Wynand Claassen’s team won at Loftus in 1980 - was on the cards.

But the Sharks also conspired against themselves, with fullback Lwazi Mvovo’s decision to hold onto the ball and then throw it away wildly particularly culpable in allowing the Lions to get a last chance to win the game.

The point of the match had been reached where, with the clock winding down and leading by one point, the Sharks just needed to play the Lions into their territory and keep them there and the game would be won. But because the wrong option was taken a Lions scrum was set near halfway instead. That was enough breathing space for the Lions, and at altitude, where the ball travels a long way, any penalty near halfway or into your own territory is kickable. There were other similar mistakes during the game that the Sharks will see if they look for them.

Some of the Sharks’ grievances against the referee were legitimate, but then there were many times when it looked like the Lions were getting the rub of the green go against them too. There were two teams on the field and they both suffered, and while the Sharks fans lament the yellow card that was shown to Stephan Lewies, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Lewies’ opposite number Franco Mostert was banished later on too.

The difference between the teams was that the Lions scored two tries when the opposition were down to 14 men, the Sharks scored one. Who is to blame for that? Ultimately the Sharks have to accept that they could have controlled their own destiny but didn’t, and that inconsistency and indiscipline have been a constant spoke in the wheel for the Durban franchise throughout the season.

There are not many teams that attract as many yellow cards as the Sharks do, and not all the referees and TMOs can be wrong, or for that matter colluding against them. The same holds true for the penalties they concede, and it is not enough for the coach to lament after every game that discipline needs to improve. It has to happen.

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