Sharks dig deep to land valuable Champions Cup win in freezing Bordeaux

The Sharks dug deep and took a massive step towards securing a home playoff in the European Champions Cup by beating Bordeaux-Begles 19-16 on an icy cold French night at Stade Chaban-Delmas on Friday.

FT | Bordeaux 16-19 Sharks

The win leaves the Sharks with two wins from two in the pool stages of the competition after they beat Harlequins in Durban last weekend. 

Flyhalf Curwin Bosch was near-flawless with the boot, kicking 14 points - including one effort from over 55m - as the Sharks recovered from an early Werner Kok yellow card and a largely uninspiring first 40 minutes to get the job done. 

The Sharks were vastly improved in the second period, relying on traditional South African strength - Eben Etzebeth was immense - to turn the tables on the French outfit as they dominated contact, set piece and ultimately bullied their way to the win.  

An intriguing first half saw the hosts take a 13-9 lead into the break after the Kok yellow opened the door for Bordeaux. 

Kok, always an energetic presence, was clearly overzealous when he effectively suplexed - professional wrestling-style - a Bordeaux player at the breakdown and was lucky to only get 10 minutes. 

Bordeaux used that numerical advantage to boss the Sharks at a rolling maul, peeling off to score the opening try of the contest through Renato Giammarioli to take a 7-0 lead, but Bosch then knocked over a hugely impressive penalty from over 55m to narrow the gap and put his side on the board.

The in-form Sharks pivot, seemingly rejuvenated under Neil Powell, then kicked a drop goal when there was nothing on, making it 7-6, but the visitors were shoddy soon after as they gave a penalty away to go 10-6 down. 

Even though they were far from their clinical best, the Sharks were