Coach John Plumtree says the Sharks struggled to play catch-up rugby in their 66-12 defeat to Bordeaux on Sunday.
Needing a win, a draw, a bonus point or a defeat by 27 points or less at Stade Chaban-Delmas to qualify for the Champions Cup round of 16, the Sharks started superbly with two tries in the first eight minutes.
But Bordeaux fought back to lead 19-12 at the break and ran riot in the second half, scoring another seven tries.“There’s not much to be happy about,” said Plumtree. “More injuries, to Lood , Ox and Hakeem . We also had a tough week with James Venter going back . “Playing against a really good side like Bordeaux is always going to be a big challenge. At times we played some really good rugby, I was really happy with the way we started in the first 20 minutes.
“But Bordeaux got their confidence up and when they got ahead we had to play catch-up rugby. Doing that against one of the best defensive teams in the competition was always going to be a big ask.”“We’ve got to move on,” Plumtree said. “We’re really disappointed for our fans that we’re not in Europe anymore, but we’re still in the URC and we’ve got a big game next week. So we’ve got to pick ourselves up.
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