Bordeaux-Bègles restored the image of French rugby on the continental scene on Saturday by logically dominating Bristol (36-17), for the first French success against English clubs during this edition of the Champions Cup.
Received 10 out of 10 and already almost qualified. Exciting a week ago in Connacht (41-5), the UBB “patrouille de France” put on a show again and Chaban delighted in the multiple combinations and interval shots making the Bears dizzy. However, they had come to Gironde with the status of co-leader of the group and by aligning young shoots, the Worsley-Wolstenholme hinge in particular, while a number of executives had remained in the fold (Genge, Sinkler, Randall, Sheedy, Malins or Vakatawa).
On paper, Bristol, 8th in the Premiership and winner of the LOU (36-34) in the opening at the end of a spectacular match (11 tries scored), was surely better than this opponent who had become a sparring partner due to the local talent. The Bordelais had already met Bristol in the semi-final of the Challenge Cup in the fall of 2020 and in the round of 16 of the Champions Cup the following spring.
It was the exemplary captain Maxime Lucu who showed the way at the end of an 80-meter restart punctuated by a decisive acceleration from Damian Penaud (5th). The former Clermontois, new official finisher of the UBB, continued his harvest. He was first selfless to serve with a long jump to Louis Bielle-Biarrey (17th) when he could surely have concluded on his own, before adding a unit to his test capital (9 in 5 starts) by clearing the way between three overwhelmed opponents (33rd). He was voted man of the match.
To obtain the offensive bonus, it was the only foreigner in the aligned three-quarter line, Ben Tapuai, who stuck there, catching a cold in the process Kalaveti Ravouvou (29-3, 56th), who came out injured shortly after .
With the fifth point firmly in place, the leading position confirmed, Bru’s men then relaxed their defensive grip a little, which until then had been very solid, and saw Bristol score twice through incoming James Dun and Oscar Lennon. Between these two achievements, Lucu’s replacement, medical joker Théo Nanette, also enjoyed Antoine Miquel’s relay (67th).
