Sharks assistant coach praises team's efforts in tough French conditions

The Sharks will return to Durban with a spring in their step after managing to pull off a very valuable away victory in Bordeaux to go two from two in their first Champions Cup campaign.

The final whistle sounded with the Sharks 19-16 ahead on the scoreboard after an energetic effort which impressed breakdown coach Yannick Bru.

“We are obviously satisfied, because there are only four games to ensure a qualification, we know that a victory away from home is imperative,” Bru told AFP.

“The players are really happy to have taken another step towards qualification, that was the objective. They realised that it was very hard to win in France.

“It was a game with many imperfections, that we started very badly,” he said. “We didn’t have a good first half, with a lot of errors of hand. We were timid in our physical commitment.

“The players were surprised by the cold. In the second half, we imposed more of a physical dimension that suits us.

“The forwards played a great second half to win this game against a very valiant Bordeaux team. In the last ten minutes, we felt that everything was possible, on a counter-attack, Bordeaux could come back even if in terms of territory and possession, we had more control of the game.”