Sharks captain Siya Kolisi said his players should have done better against Bordeaux. Picture: Romain Perrocheau / AFP
Sharks captain Siya Kolisi said the 10-try hiding that booted them out of the Champions Cup was “really painful” to bear.
While he gave credit to a far superior Union Bordeaux Bègles, he was distraught at the poor performance shown by his side in France on Sunday.
The 66–12 drubbing was completely one-sided for at least 50 minutes and was the final nail in the coffin of a poor Champions Cup campaign.
Following their 39–21 win over Exeter in the opening round of pool games, the Sharks went from bad to worse.
They lost 56–17 to Leicester Tigers in England and 20–8 to Toulouse in Durban (the score difference should have been higher if not for Toulouse’s own mistakes and a breakaway Jurenzo Julius try) before the game in Bordeaux.
The Sharks finish the tournament fifth in the pool with one win, and a miserable points difference of -87. This means they drop into the Challenge Cup’s round of 16, something the Stormers can’t even say after their equally miserable campaign saw them finish bottom of their pool and crash out of the EPCR altogether.
“It’s a horrible way to go out. It was all in our hands until a certain part of the game,” Kolisi said after the game, shaking his head.
“We just lost concentration and gave penalties away and as soon as they got momentum they stuck with it. I thought we could have done better in the second half.”
Kolisi accidentally swore on camera when discussing how strong the Bordeaux side were on the day, though he was quick to apologise.
“Bordeaux are really good. They get their confidence up and then they can score from anywhere in the field. They definitely outplayed us after the first couple of minutes
“We could have done much better. I am really disappointed but well done to them. They’re a great team, they have been doing well throughout their competition.
“But we also didn’t kill our opportunities off in the first half. It’s really painful, it’s a hard one to lose in this way. It’s really horrible but all credit to them.”
The Sharks will face Lyon in the last-16, in April.
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