The Ospreys faint hopes of making it back-to-back quarter finals in the BKT United Rugby Championship are now all but over after they were beaten 29-10 by the Sharks in Durban.
Head coach Mark Jones had admitted before his squad headed to South Africa that they would need to win both games to stand any chance of creeping into the top eight in the table. This defeat leaves them 11th place, five points adrift of the Scarlets in eighth place having played one game more.
There were no points on a night when the Springbok-packed home side guaranteed themselves a home quarter final as they scored two tries in each half.
Sam Parry came off the bench to grab his fifth try of the season at Kings Park, but that was as good as it got for the Ospreys. They go on to play the Lions in Johannesburg next weekend.
The Sharks, who lost skipper Eben Etzebeth to a serious knee injury during the game, led 14-3 at half-time. Lock Jason Jenkins crashed over from close range and there was no stopping hard-running centre Andre Esterhuizen from a few metres out.
Ospreys had their moments between those tries but Kieran Hardy’s sublime solo effort was ruled out for a fumble over the line. Dewi Lake was denied in the corner, while breaks by Morgan Morse and Dan Kasende went unfinished.
There were no celebrations for Adam Beard on his 100th league appearance, while skipper Jac Morgan marked his 50th appearance the day after being named in the British & Irish Lions squad by topping the table for both turnovers and tackles.
Keelan Giles failed to handle a speculative kick to hand wing Ethan Hooker an easy finish, while Phepsi Buthelezi latched on to a catch and offload by Makazole Mapimpi to clinch the bonus-point with the home side’s second try after the break.