A “HUGELY DISAPPOINTED” Munster coach Graham Rountree said the seeds of defeat in Durban were sewn at the breakdown battle where the highly physical Sharks won key moments.

The first half was tightly fought and it was just 17-14 at half-time to the Sharks but Munster were blown away in the third quarter before scrambling late tries to give the 50-35 score some dignity.

“It is hugely disappointing to be just three points adrift at the break and then to see the game ripped away from us in the third quarter,” Rowntree said. “The Sharks were hot at the breakdown. In fact, that is the hottest breakdown we have encountered this season — they had a second wave hitting us and the pressure caused us to concede crucial turnovers and penalties.

“We will look at that third quarter closely because the game got away from us after those two quick maul tries just after half-time,” Rowntree added. “Suddenly we had to chase the game and we got looser as a result.”

It was warm and sunny in Durban and while the Munster players appeared to flag in the second half, Rowntree refused to blame the conditions.

“The heat is certainly something we are not used to but at the end of the game we were scoring tries, so I am happy with the effort. It is tactically and technically that we have to get better,” he said.

“I really think it was at the breakdown that we lost it. The Sharks were very good at reloading and then hitting us again with a counter-ruck. We will have to deal with that better.”

Munster return to Kings Park in three weeks to play a United Rugby Championship fixture and Rowntree says it is a case of once bitten, twice shy.

“We are back here soon and we have had a taste of this team and this town,” Rowntree said. “We will pull this game apart, learn from it and make sure we get better.

“We are a tight group, we can score tries… We will get to the bottom of what happened in that third quarter and move forward.”