Sharks coach Robert du Preez says his team's lack of possession cost them dearly in their 24-17 defeat at the hands of the Brumbies on Saturday
It was the Sharks' first match of their tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they will need to drastically improve ahead of tougher assignments against the Rebels, Blues and Hurricanes over the next three weeks.
"I think we really battled to get into the game, especially in the first half," Du Preez said.
"We didn't start well and didn't have any possession in the first half and very little territory. Then our discipline let us down when we gave away three penalties in the first seven minutes."
The Brumbies had lost their previous two games going into the match against the Sharks, but played with a lot of hunger and desire to pull off a much-needed win. The Sharks, on the other hand, didn't have the bite on attack and defence.
"They've lost a couple of games, they were back at home and we knew there would be a big backlash from them," Du Preez said.
"That's exactly what we got. They were desperate to win, they played really well, so well done on a good performance from them. "We are very disappointed, but we hung in there right to the death, we'll take that as a positive, although it's the only one for me at this stage. We could have drawn the game but we're not happy with our performance."
Captain Ruan Botha pointed at an outstanding forward effort from the Brumbies that laid the platform for their victory.
"Hats off to them, they had a good set-piece at scrums and lineouts, we knew they'd bring it," he said.
"They were desperate to win, especially getting one at home and they played well, played very good rugby against us. When they were down to 14 men, we really needed to take our opportunities to score."