Werner Kok of the Sharks takes on Toulouse player Matthis Lebel during the Champions Cup quarterfinal on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images
The Sharks’ maiden Champions Cup campaign ended in a heavy quarterfinal defeat against Toulouse in France on Saturday.
After leading on the Stade Mayol scoreboard for most of the first 40 minutes, the Sharks trailed 14-10 at half time before being blown away in the second period by the five-time champions who won 54-20.
Toulouse fullback Thomas Ramos scored 29 points and right wing Juan Cruz Mallia bagged a brace of tries to help the Top 14 leaders progress to the semi-finals, where they will face Leinster at the Aviva Stadium at the end of April.
Sharks flyhalf Curwin Bosch opened the scoring from the kicking tee, after Mallia earned 10 minutes on the naughty chair for an incidental head clash with speedster Makazole Mapimpi, inside an exhilarating first quarter.
Ramos restored parity midway through the first half, before Bosch missed his next attempt in front of the uprights to regain the lead, but his excellent break from the inside his own 22 set up speedy scrumhalf Grant Williams for the opening try.
ALSO READ: Stormers ready for ‘best of the best’ in Champions Cup
However, the hosts went into the break with a four-point lead after two more Ramos penalties and a touchdown from Mallia in the corner.
Ramos was on the scoreboard again with a seven-pointer minutes after the restart, but the Sharks cut the deficit to four when No 15 Boeta Chamberlain burst through a gap on a lineout strike for the visitors’ second try, and Bosch added the extras.
Mallia slid in next to the corner flag to complete his brace with just over 20 minutes left on the clock, and Williams thought he did too, only for his effort to be turned over on a TMO referral.
Bosch split the uprights with his second penalty of the match inside the final quarter, but Toulouse then coasted to victory with tries from Ramos, hooker Peato Mauvaka, flyhalf Romain Ntamack and replacement Arthur Retiere.
The Sharks will now refocus for a blockbuster clash in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Kings Park between the eighth-placed Durbanites and ninth-placed Benetton, as both teams look to secure a play-off spot with only two rounds remaining.
But, Sharks boss Neil Powell will be sweating over inside centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg, who was stretchered off following a high-speed collision in an attempt to prevent Mallia’s second splash over the whitewash.
This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story click here.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
