The Scarlets went to Kings Park knowing they had already secured a place in the top eight thanks to other results, but they missed out on moving higher up the table after going down 12-3 in a try-less, error strewn game against the Sharks.
A victory could have taken them as high as sixth in the table and swapped a quarter-final trip to Dublin to meet Leinster on 31 May for a potential clash with reigning champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun.
But having already beaten Leinster once this season at Parc y Scarlets they can now try to repeat the heroics of 2017 when they went to the RDS Arena and won 27-15 in the semi-finals of the then Pro 14. They went on to win the title that season, hammering Munster 46-22 in the final at the Aviva Stadium.
The high humidity in Durban made conditions difficult for both sides and contributed to a tryless game. The visitors held a losing bonus-point until the final minute before the 17th penalty conceded against six by the Sharks enabled Aphelele Fassi to kick his side’s fourth goal to make it 12-3 and send the Scarlets home without anything.
The extra point would have meant finishing in seventh, ahead of Edinburgh on victories, and set up a trip to Pretoria to face the Bulls.
Although they were on the back foot for long periods Dwayne Peel’s me were tireless in their defensive effort and created enough chances with nine clean breaks to have conjured up a few tries.
A rampaging run from halfway by back row man Vaea Fifita was the highlight of the first half for the visitors, although had Archie Hughes been able to find Sam Costelow after a great break out by Joe Roberts on his 50th Scarlets appearance things might have been different.
The only score of the first half eventually came in the 38th minute when home outside half Siya Masuku landed a penalty from in front of the posts to make it 3-0 at the break. Immediately after the re-start, Costelow struck back with a smart drop goal off his left foot.
Full back Aphelele Fassi edged the Sharks back in front on 52 minutes with his first penalty and then added another to make it 9-3 with 12 minutes remaining. The Scarlets still had a bonus point in their hands before Italian referee Andrea Piardi dished out another penalty as the clock went into the red.
Up stepped Fassi and his third success completed the scoring and took away the lsing bonus-point from the Scarlets.