Sharks skipper Keegan Daniel believes his side's failure to score points when they were dominating early on cost them the Super Rugby final.

The Chiefs were more clinical and made fewer errors than the Sharks on a wet Hamilton night, running up a 13-3 lead by half-time and outscoring the South Africans four tries to nil.

But the Sharks, who entered the match following an arduous travel schedule, were the better team in the opening exchanges.

But the visitors' only reward for their early domination was a sole penalty by Frederic Michalak, before the Chiefs began to work their way into the game with superior forward power and more accurate kicking.

"That's what finals rugby is about," said Daniel.

"You get such a little amount of opportunity to score points and you should capitalise. When we dominated the game early on we didn't put that into points.

"No excuses. The Chiefs were outstanding tonight. They really suffocated us."