Sharks defeat a ‘step in the right direction’ as Dwayne Peel picks out key positive as pointless campaign continues
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel reflects on latest loss.
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel insists their latest United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat, a 29-19 loss to the Sharks in Durban, was a “step in the right direction”.
The struggling Welsh side suffered a fourth straight loss in the competition on Saturday, but they were more than a match for the Springbok-filled outfit at Kings Park.
Despite scores from Marnus van der Merwe, Blair Murray and Tom Rogers, a 10-point deficit unfortunately saw Scarlets finish with nothing to show for their efforts.
Step forward
However, head coach Peel believes there were plenty of positives to take from the showing as his men go into the URC break propping up the table, sitting on no points.
“It was definitely a step forward for us and I felt like we looked like ourselves a bit more today,” Peel said afterwards as the Scarlets now head home from South Africa.
“Obviously, we’re frustrated as there were a couple of bonus points we could have got and we leave with nothing for a lot of effort.
“There were a few poor execution moments, we got behind them a few times late on and we just couldn’t quite get over the line and coughed up some soft tries as well, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
The region’s tour to South Africa also saw them fall to a 29-18 defeat to the Lions in the previous round, this coming after home losses to the Stormers and Munster.
Looking back over their games in Johannesburg and Durban, Peel continued to keep positive as his side looks to recover and improve during the international break.
“It’s been a tough couple of games for us and a lot of hard work is needed now this month. We have a break before the next block of URC and Champions Cup, which is exciting for us,” he said.
“We didn’t pick up any injuries, so hopefully we will have a healthy squad and can get to work.”
Peel also addressed how his side fared against the Springbok-heavy Sharks outfit that included the likes of Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche, adding: “Physicality is something we have always strived for, it was a big characteristic of the team at the end of last season during our run to the play-offs, so it was good to see that.
Star-studded
“They were obviously a star-studded Sharks side so it was a big challenge physically with their size and having to manage that, but I thought we did that quite well.
“Their maul attack has been a big strength of theirs but for the most part I thought we were pretty effective there.
“Physically we were ok, it was just that bit of finesse when we got behind the gainline just to finish those tries off.”
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