Gutsy Sharks eliminated from Champions Cup

The Sharks were on the receiving end of a 54-20 defeat at the hands of Toulouse in their Champions Cup quarter-final at the Stade Ernest Wallon on Saturday.

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While the scoreline does not reflect it, this quarter-final in France exceeded all expectations because it was so well contested up until around the hour mark. 

As anticipated, Toulouse were the better for large for the majority of the contest, but the Sharks couldn’t have performed more admirably if they tried.

Neil Powell’s side stayed in the fight until about the last 20 minutes, but then they — as expected — started to fade and Toulouse started to party. This was due to various factors, not least the Sharks’ doomed travelling arrangements, which was delayed and forced management to divide the squad into two groups and fly to France via two different routes with two different layovers.

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The Sharks weren’t at their best last week, and yet they showed great determination and tenacity against a much-more favoured Toulouse along with a partisan crowd. They weren’t short of momentum, confidence, or temperament in this do-or-die clash.

Siya Kolisi, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Werner Kok and Gerbrandt Grobler were all brilliant at the breakdowns and the collisions, but when you come up against a side like Toulouse, who thrives on a fast-paced, open offload game, there aren’t many crucial breakdowns to attack.

The Toulouse 9, 10, 12 and 15 all contributed accurate and dazzling performances, that would have left like a punch in the gut for the Sharks.

The first half was contested, with the Sharks taking a 10-3 close to the 30 minute mark after. But the Sharks defense machine started leaking towards the end of the half and by the started of the second, the hosts had chalked up 18 unanswered points for what proved to be an unassailable 21-10 advantage.

Result: Sharks crash out of Heineken Champions Cup

Not deterred by the blows that Toulouse were landing nor the partisanship of the television director, who did brilliantly to manipulate the officials into checking the visitors’ mistake well after the fact, the Sharks continued chip away on the scoreboard to move within six points.

But then the floodgates opened and Toulouse ran in four tries to put the gloss on a well-polished all-round performance