Cape Town - Sharks coach Robert du Preez hit out at his side’s performance following their 9-all draw with the Melbourne Rebels in Durban at the weekend.
The Sharks, who lost centre Andre Esterhuizen to a red card early in the game, made several errors in a largely forgettable encounter at Kings Park.
Several pundits and fans were in agreement that the quality of rugby was close to the worst ever witnessed in the competition.
“We had all the opportunities in the world to win this game, but we just stuffed it up - one opportunity after the other,” a dejected Du Preez said in the post-match press conference on Saturday night.
“We showed a complete lack of composure. Obviously the red card had a big role to play, but we have a lot of experienced rugby players in our team as well and they should show some proper leadership. We had close to 20 opportunities in their 22, so we should definitely have converted a lot more.”
Du Preez agreed that the game was not a good advert for Super Rugby.
“It was so bad that I think our players should refund the public. It’s just not good enough. If you represent your province, and a proud province like the Sharks, then this performance of today must rate as one of the worst that I’ve ever seen.”
Regarding Esterhuizen’s sending-off for a tip tackle, Du Preez said: “It was very disappointing, especially after the whistle has gone. To tip tackle a guy after the whistle has gone. that’s just poor!
“It’s a pity we didn’t have all 15 players on the field. I think it definitely would have been a different game.”