Following a 27-15 win for Bordeaux over Bristol in their Investec Champions Cup fixture, here’s our five takeaways from the Pool 4 match at Ashton Gate.
The top line
Something had to give in this appetising clash between these two unbeaten teams, who had scored 44 tries between them in the previous three rounds.
While the rain was a spoilsport for fans who came looking for a try-fest between attacks that had scored 44 tries between them in the previous three rounds, an entertaining match limited to six tries deservedly tipped Bordeaux’s way, backboned by a Louis Bielle-Biarrey hat-trick.
An error-strewn opening with the greasy ball eventually gave way to punch and counter punch, Gabriel Oghre’s score-opening unconverted try on 10 minutes following Harry Randall’s quickly tapped penalty getting matched three minutes later by Bielle-Biarrey finishing off Matthieu Jalibert’s sumptuous counterattack from a Louis Rees-Zammit kick.
The deadly Bielle-Biarrey gave the visitors a 22nd-minute lead, profiting from a Benhard Janse van Rensburg spill, and he would have had his hat-trick four minutes later but for his kick-ahead carrying too far along the ground to allow him to reach it behind the try line.
The mishap didn’t ruffle UBB. Staying patient in defence, they were gifted a turnover ball from another Bristol error, and their boot-to-ball reaction resulted in a 30th-minute footrace down the other end of the pitch, won by Nicolas Depoortere. His unconverted try pushed the advantage to 17-5.
It stayed that way until the 65th minute when Bristol closed to five points with a converted Van Rensburg try, but the gap stretched to eight with James Williams penalised for no release after getting tackled carrying from his 22.
The Bears ratcheted up the tension again with a 73rd-minute Sam Worlsey penalty, but Bordeaux finished the stronger, Bielle-Biarrey clinching his hat-trick not long after a Jalibert penalty miss.
It’s an outcome that secured UBB’s top spot in the pool and home advantage in the round of 16 in April. For Bristol, the loss left them sweating on the Northampton result to see whether they finish second or third and have to go on the road when the tournament restarts after the Six Nations.
The Jalibert question
If you thought the Irish out-half debate would dominate the conversation heading into the February 5 start of the Six Nations in Paris, you had better think again. The Sam Prendergast versus Harry Byrne versus Jack Crowley battle, of course, will be intriguing, and whichever way Andy Farrell goes will have tongues wagging.
However, the French No.10 argument is even more compelling right now. Bordeaux’s Jalibert hasn’t featured under Fabien Galthie since last February’s loss to England in London. That was just his fifth appearance since being the Rugby World Cup 2023 fall guy in the absence of the injured Romain Ntamack.
There was momentum for a Jalibert return three months ago, only for injury to force his withdrawal from the Autumn Nations Series squad, where Ntamack was the No.10 versus South Africa, Fiji and Australia. But Jalibert has now rebuilt that momentum through his excellent club form, and the 27-year-old needed just 13 minutes to demonstrate how lethal he can be.
Nothing should have been on when he collected a pass after Rees-Zammit had belted the ball into the Bordeaux half. But his acceleration from his own 10-metre line, his foot movement and shuffling of the ball from holding it in two hands to tucking it under each arm and then back to two hands before passing it near the Bristol 22 to the try-scoring Bielle-Biarrey was lovely.
He also caught the eye in defence with his speed when tidying up the mess caused by a blocked Romain Buros clearance kick on 54 minutes. His eagerness to get back ensured Kalaveti Ravouvou wouldn’t be scoring.
There will be questions about his inaccuracy off the kicking tee, inconsistency epitomised by his late penalty miss before the Bielle-Biarrey clincher. But the reality is that if he were picked as the French No.10, Thomas Ramos would be on the kicks.
Bottom line is that Jalibert sweetly runs a club team attack. Will we now see him backed by his country? Over to you, Mr Galthie.
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Best-laid plans
So, you practice all week on the training ground to ensure your set-piece is up to scratch, only to see it endure a misfiring opening. The early minutes in Bristol were an example of how best-laid plans can come unstuck. The wet, of course, didn’t help, but still…
Bristol started with an Oghre throw getting stolen at the lineout, and Ellis Genge was then penalised at the game’s first scrum. And what of Bordeaux and their opening five throws?
The sequence was an uncontested win, the concession of a free for numbers, a loss on halfway, an uncontested win and then a sloppy knock-on when they went to drive their next uncontested win. It was sticky, frustrating going, and it was a relief that the match soon opened up away from the set-piece.
Come the finish, Bristol were the most wounded set-piece team, the stats showing just a 50 per cent win ratio from their 10 lineouts. That ultimately hurt the hosts.
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The Youngs hunch
With the conditions the unhelpful way they were and Bristol hindered by too many first-half handling errors from their silky backs and the injury to out-half Tom Jordan, it soon became the sort of afternoon where the grunt by their forwards was essential, especially when turning around 12 points down after the first half.
Ben Youngs, the England record men’s caps holder, singled out two Bristol forwards in his match preview in his latest Planet Rugby Champions Cup column, so we kept an eye on how Genge, “the world’s most in-form player at the minute” – according to the retired scrum-half – and lock Jope Batley, “who gets through a bucket load of work”.
Both players were certainly hungry for a carry with their team trying to force its way back into the contest, but whereas precision wasn’t an issue when Bristol flourished in the Pretoria sun last weekend, it was here.
Take the 51st-minute incident where Genge lunged towards the try line. In old currency, he could have grounded at the butt of the post covering for a try to be scored, but that is no longer the case.
So, it was cruel to see the ball dislodged from his grasp when he collided with the post covering and lost the ball from his grasp while trying to ground the ball.
It was a costly mishap, but it didn’t mean Genge didn’t play well. He did, staying on for the entire 80, and his level of carry was important in bringing the fight to Bordeaux in the second half and keeping things close until the final minute.
Kudos, too, for Batley, another 80-minute performer. He does have an admirable engine and is the type of glue player who keeps Bristol in the thick of it when the going gets tough. Well played, both.
More streetwise UBB
Bristol like to think they have all the tools necessary to be a title-threatening force. But as much as they should be everyone’s favourite team for the way they attack matches, they are sometimes their own worst enemy, and Sunday’s match was an illustration of this.
It’s in the DNA to attempt to run the ball from everywhere but it cost them heavily here in the trying conditions. This was an afternoon for a more pragmatic approach, and they paid the price for sticking to their guns. Way too many turnovers were given up, some very cheaply, for them to build a winning momentum.
The difference was evident in the patience that Bordeaux, the defending champions, possessed. Two seasons ago, they were ambushed in a high-scoring classic at home to Harlequins in the quarter finals, but they are now a more streetwise operation.
Look at the way they took a pause with two and a half minutes to go in Bristol and pointed at the posts rather than going to the corner and chasing the fourth try for the bonus point.
They were just five points ahead at the time and figured a kick was best to stretch the gap to eight and seal the win.
It was the correct option and while the ensuing Jalibert miss was a shocker, it didn’t knock them off their stride as they were soon scoring the fourth try when play restarted with clock pressure weighing even more heavily on Bristol than before the kick.