Head coach Sean Everitt admitted he was "very disappointed” after Edinburgh lost to his former side Sharks in Durban, but dismissed former Scotland captain John Barclay’s assessment it was the club’s worst performance of his tenure.
Barclay, a pundit on Viaplay, slammed the performance alongside ex-Wales centre Tom Shanklin and former Ireland back-row Stephen Ferris.
Ferris accused the capital club of “giving up”, while Shanklin said Edinburgh “looked like a team that didn’t know how to play rugby” in the 23-13 defeat.
Everitt did not agree with their assessment.
The Edinburgh head coach said: “It is very hard to play rugby when you're chained in your own half for most of the game, so I disagree with that."
“I wouldn’t say we are a team who can’t play rugby. I think we are a team that struggled to get territory.”
In the end, the scoreline flattered Edinburgh with the home side dominant throughout and denied two further tries only by last-ditch tackles.
Everitt admitted his side put themselves under unnecessary pressure.
He added: “To win you’ve got to have territory and we didn’t win that battle. We only got to fire three shots in the first half, got into the 22 once and kicked a penalty.
“At 7-3 we were still in the game and showing a fight. At 12-6 we were still in the game, and we got ascendancy in the set-piece, but we put ourselves under pressure unfortunately.
“That’s a learning experience for guys coming over to South Africa.”
READ MORE: Five things we learned as lacklustre Edinburgh slump to Sharks loss
A second successive defeat means Edinburgh will return home from their tour of South Africa without adding to their United Rugby Championship points tally.
Everitt said while that is disappointing, the squad will need to bounce back when their attention shifts to the Challenge Cup last 16 clash with Bayonne at Hive Stadium on Saturday.
“It’s a hell of a disappointing,” Everitt said of the results on tour.
“We worked so hard to put ourselves in a position to compete for the top four. It’s about staying positive and understanding that we did face two good teams while we were away on this tour.
"The guys are going to remain positive – I'll make sure of that – we've just got to keep working at what’s letting us down.
“The rugby in our own half has not been accurate enough over the past couple of weeks. If we look at our all-round game, we got stronger in the set-piece and we probably would’ve liked more reward for that.
“There’s a lot to be positive about. Edinburgh just now need to have a killer instinct when we put teams under the pump, we finish them off."
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