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European frustrations

23/ 1/2008

FOLLOWING a lengthy post-match debrief, Sharks players’ egos appeared to be as bruised as their bodies.

In the impressive surroundings of Stade Yves-du-Manoir Sale, who boasted the only flawless points record in the tournament, could not keep Montpellier’s men down.

The Sharks players arrived in France less than 24 hours before the match kicked-off, getting to Montpellier at around 11pm after delayed flights resulted in a gruelling journey.

It must surely have had a detrimental inpact on Sharks’ performance.

However, this excuse was not proferred by any players or coaches, who were humble and self-critical after the 14-14 draw...

"WE fronted up, but we let the lead slip," explained match skipper Dean Schofield.

"The lads were up for this game. It’s a great ground to play at: a packed house, a beautiful stadium and pitch, and in good conditions, but we just couldn’t get that win.

"We can’t look at the kicks we missed [in the last 10 minutes] or anything like that, we should have nailed the game before then."

MAGNUS Lund praised the leadership and determination of Sharks’ match captain Schofield in the tie.

"Schoey led from the front," said England Saxons squad member Lund.

"He had a terrific game, if everyone had been at his level it would have been a little bit different - I think we would have smashed them."

But, he added: "We believe we can go and win anywhere if we play to our full potential, which we didn’t do tonight."

THE recent adoration Sebastien Chabal has enjoyed from sections of the French media appeared to come to an abrupt end after Sharks’ match on Saturday night.

Chabal’s arrival in the French town had made it onto the front page of the free local paper: ‘Il arrive!’ declared Montpellier Plus.

Twenty-four hours later it was a different story: Midi Libre warned Chabal of Louis Picamoles future prospects: ‘Attention Chabal you are not alone’ it said of the Caveman’s young rival No.8.

And, from what could be gleaned from the collection of French newspapers some were even suggesting that Chabal had been dethroned.

At the end of Saturday’s match a security guard, positioned at the door of Sharks’ dressing room told me how he was waiting to get a photo with his rugby hero. "Chabal?" I presumed. No, former All Black ‘Luke McAlister’.

Chabal will not slip from the fame game just yet but, given his exclusion from France’s Six Nations squad for the Scotland tie (see back) it does suggest he needs to recapture the attention of fans and coaches on the rugby field.

DESPITE clinching a draw in France, Sharks’ lone points scorer Luke McAlister was scathing of his team’s performance.

But what went wrong?

"I don’t know, maybe it’s an attitude thing among the players," admitted the 24-year-old centre. "I can’t pinpoint it. We’ll have to watch the video and see why."

McAlister described the referral of a penalty decision to the video referee as ‘bizarre’. The television match official, to the relief of the home crowd, declared it was a miss.

Despite coming within inches of winning the game for Sharks in the final seconds McAlister refused to put a positive spin on the performance: "Montpellier played pretty well, and we couldn’t have played much worse to be honest."