Sharks Crash Out Of The Challenge Cup In Lyon As Focus Shifts Firmly To Urc

It was with more of a whimper than a bang that the Sharks surrendered their EPCR Challenge Cup title on Sunday night but this was always going to be the case when 13 first-choice players were watching the game from their sofas in Durban.

This 34-21 loss to Lyon was painful for Sharks fans but the bigger picture is that the big guns are preparing for a full-on assault on the United Rugby Championship URC.

John Plumtree has in his sights the upcoming overseas games against Edinburgh and Ulster as the Sharks look to consolidate their fourth position on the URC log. There are four rounds left in the URC, and if the Sharks can win in the UK and follow up with home victories over the Ospreys and Scarlets, they might improve on fourth place.

The Sharks started with positive intent and they had the home team on the ropes for five minutes before Fez Mbatha crashed over from a line-out maul. That was after they had turned down an easy three points near the posts in favour of going for the try. Siya Masuku nailed a difficult conversion.

Unfortunately, the Sharks made the schoolboy error of failing to keep it clean after the restart. Lyon won a penalty and flyhalf Leo Beardu narrowed the score to 7-3.