Sharks humiliated out of Champions Cup as Bordeaux run riot

There was always a threat that the injury-hit Sharks would get a smack in Bordeaux but few predicted there would be a 50-point embarrassment.

The score of 66-12 will haunt the Sharks for years to come and their humiliation deepened with the confirmation that they have dropped out of the Champions Cup race and will complete the season in the second-tier Challenge Cup.

The Sharks needed one log point from this game to shut out Ulster.

The best hope of achieving that was not to lose by more than 27 points and at 19-12 at halftime there was hope, only for Bordeaux to fire up the afterburners and score seven second-half tries without reply.

One man on his own, Damian Penaud, scored a double hat-trick as the Sharks fell apart.

Heads went down, the cover-tackling of the first half fell away, and the men in purple scored at will.

Sharks supporters will demand an inquest and will have little sympathy for John Plumtree’s 15-man injury list that includes seven Springboks.

The Sharks started brightly and when they earned a second-minute penalty in the Bordeaux 22, they went to the corner and it was Siya Masuku who finished off a fine team try.

It was the perfect start for the flyhalf. He has been on the outer at Kings Park for some months now and was brought in from the cold for this game because of the injury to Jordan Hendrikse.

The 20,000-strong home crowd was silenced and two minutes later you could hear a pin drop when more neat phase play from the visitors propelled young fullback Hakeem Kunene over in the corner.

It was 10-0 after as many minutes but the start was too good to be true — in the 12th minute France wing Penaud scored when the ball went quickly wide from a forward maul and, in the build-up, Kunene went into a tackle too upright and head-to-head contact with Nicolas Depoortere meant a yellow card.

Kunene did himself an injury in the collisions and was replaced by Lukhanyo Am.

Bordeaux have a brilliant backline and they are tough to stop at the best of times, never mind when you are a back down. Penaud nailed his second when a back-pedalling Yaw Penxe flung an inside pass to no man’s land and Penaud pounced. It was a blunder by Penxe, a coach killer, and the easiest try Penaud has scored.

That locked the scores at 12-12 and it became a level playing field in the 25th minute when hooker, Conor Sa, the young New Zealander, was yellow carded for a high tackle on Manu Tshituka.

Instead, it was Bordeaux who scored seconds before the half-time hooter. It was a hat-trick try for Penaud, who came in off his wing and took a short pass from a lineout maul.

For the Sharks it was an unfortunate time to concede a try and they went into the change room with the wind taken out of their sails.

There was another blow shortly after the restart when Penaud kicked into space and scrumhalf Maxine Lucu enjoyed a favourable bounce and raced to the posts.

Suddenly it was 26-12 and when replacement hooker Ugo Boniface bashed over, the floodgates were about to open.

Just 25 minutes into the second half it was an ugly 40-12 when centre Yoram Moefana carved through the tiring defence.

The rout deepened when Penaud scored his fourth and for good measure, he added a fifth minutes later.

The embarrassment was complete a minute from time when Jacques Nguimbous ran over Penxe for a try and Penaud completed his second hat-trick.

Scorers

Sharks — Tries: Siya Masuku, Hakeem Kunene. Conversions: Masuku,

Bordeaux — Tries: Damian Penaud (6), Maxime Lucu, Ugo Boniface, Yoram Moefana, Jacques Nguimbous. Conversions: Matthieu Jalibert (8)