Sharks brace for Bordeaux battle

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Phepsi Buthelezi admits the Sharks will "have our work cut out for us" against Bordeaux on Sunday.

The Sharks go into their final Investec Champions Cup pool fixture on the back of a 20-8 home defeat to Toulouse.

The best John Plumtree's team can hope for now is to stay fourth in the six-team pool, which would still be good enough to qualify for the round of 16.

They are five log points ahead of winless Ulster and Exeter – who play each other on Friday – and also have a superior points difference. The Sharks could therefore lose to Bordeaux without picking up a bonus point, and still qualify for the playoffs.

"We're all in a really good space," said Buthelezi on Wednesday. "Our goal for this week is pretty simple and straightforward – we obviously want to qualify for the Champions Cup round of 16."

The Sharks arrived in southwestern France on Tuesday and the contrast to their home city couldn't have been starker.

"It was minus two degrees, so it's a bit of a change for us coming from hot and humid Durban," said Buthelezi.

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Bordeaux are top of Pool 1 having won all three of their matches in convincing fashion, including a 69-17 thrashing of Exeter last weekend.

"We know we have our work cut out for us," Buthelezi said. "Bordeaux are a quality side, they're going really well in the Top 14 [they are top of the log] and Champions Cup.

"They came up short in last season's Champions Cup [losing their home quarter-final 42-41 to Harlequins] and will want to rectify that.

"They've scored a lot of tries in their last five or six games so we know that defensively we will have to roll up our sleeves."

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images

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