Durban — A very proud Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell said it might take weeks, months and even years before the Sharks properly digest how good their win over Bordeaux was on Friday night in what was the KZN team’s first-ever away game in the Heineken Cup.
The Sharks beat the French team 19-16 in a fierce encounter in which every point was bitterly contested. The teams scored a try apiece and the difference between the teams on the scoreboard was a Curwin Bosch drop goal.
Bosch kicked with precision, adding three penalties and a conversion to his well-taken drop goal.
The Sharks’ try was well scored by Werner Kok in the second half and that made up for him being yellow carded early in the game for a wrestling manoeuvre at a breakdown that saw him dangerously flip a player head over heels.
“It was a great win for us,” Powell said from France. “Ever since we knew that we were going to have to come here to Bordeaux, everybody told us how difficult it is to win away in France. And we saw in this game just how much of an impact the home crowd can have on their team’s performance.
“Every one of our players, including our experienced internationals, came off the field and remarked how tough the game had been.
“So to get through it with the result, even though it was so physically demanding, makes me very proud of the boys and we will probably only realise the scale of our achievement in a few weeks or even a few years.”
The first half was not much of a spectacle as the sides scrapped away but the Sharks were more efficient in the second half and deserved the win.
“At half-time, we spoke about controlling the game more,” Powell explained. “We made too many basic errors in the first half and did not always play in the right areas, so we decided to pin them back in their half with better kicking tactics.
“We were a lot more accurate and clinical in the second half as the guys put the words we spoke at half-time into action.
“And I think the turning point of the game came in that third quarter where we did a lot of defending and put in some telling hits and then got a vital turnover.”
Powell added that this second consecutive win in the Heineken Cup — they beat Harlequins the week before — has put the Sharks into a strong position to make the play-offs and even host one.
“It was a very important win not just in terms of the Heineken Cup but in general for our season — two good results and the confidence is back ahead of a very big United Rugby Championship match against the Lions on Friday night in Durban.”
IOL Sport