Champions Cup last 16: Bordeaux Bègles 43 Ulster 31
Bordeaux Bègles duly set up a home quarter-final against Munster next Saturday and did so, for the most part, in cruise control – albeit they probably cruised a little too much for the liking of Yannick Bru and their coaching staff.
Ulster looked like they might be in a for very long day in the Bordeaux sunshine against the UBB (Union Bordeaux Bègles) galacticos after going 21-0 down in the first quarter but they doggedly hung in the fight, striking some cheeky blows of their own before ultimately being outscored by six tries to five.
The result was never seriously in doubt and UBB could afford to pick and choose their moments to keep Ulster at arm’s length with their pack power or their off-the-cuff rugby. They bookended the first half with brilliant counter-attacking tries which underlined the brilliance of Damian Penaud, fullback Romain Buros and Yoram Moefana, who has carried on where he left off in the Six Nations, as well as the perils of kicking loosely to them – a tactic which Ulster resorted to as much in apparent exhaustion at times.
How did Munster stun O’Gara’s La Rochelle?
Amid an often deafening din, Joey Carbery looked utterly at home in the burgundy jerseys and these surrounds, pulling the strings deftly as well as nailing four conversions out of four before departing. Thereafter they became even looser, and they too seemed to wilt in the heat at times in a very open game which appeared to have a large amount of ball in play time.
James McNabney and Nick Timoney never stopped carrying and tackling while Jacob Stockdale was on it from first to last with an industrious, ever-dangerous and fired-up performance, and ditto fellow winger Zac Ward, who scored two tries.
Unhelpfully too, Ulster’s bus arrived 20 minutes late for the game and maybe this contributed to their slow start, for it actually was not long before they looked tired and leggy. Their chasing of kicks was perfunctory and their forwards were soon walking slowly to each lineout.
The teams emerged to a cacophony of noise under clear blue skies in temperatures of 21 degrees and an expectant Stade Chaban-Delmas capacity crowd.
Bordeaux Bègles are the best supported team in French club rugby for a reason. Few supporters are as royally entertained as those of les Girondins and they could sense this would be another try feast. Nor were kept waiting unduly.
After a quiet opening five minutes, UBB sprang into life when Carbery fielded Stockdale’s long kick outside his own 22 and passed to Romain Buros who switched to the right flank for Yoran Moefana to find Penaud in space. He switched back infield, galloped clear in that inimitable loping stride of his and swayed inside Mike Lowry, sauntering to the line for a swan dive when chased by three white-shirted opponents for his 11th try of this season’s Champions Cup campaign.
What’s more, he looked like was just jogging.
Ulster were clinging on in the face of UBB’s dynamic carrying and offloading before the home side went route one through their lineout maul. Beginning outside the 22, hooker Maxime Lamothe rumbled to within a metre of the Ulster lineout and a couple of phases was latching on to Ben Tameifuna, not that the Tongan man mountain needed any helping in plundering a second try.
When Adam Coleman then stole an Ulster throw and then finished off another flowing highlighted by Carbery’s perfectly timed pass to release Lamothe as Tom O’Toole shot out of the line it looked ominous for the Irish side.
To their credit, Ulster responded with their best spell of the match, James McNabney finding space on the left edge to offload inside to Lowry, and Zac Ward had a leg-pumping carry on the other wing before Tom O’Toole eventually scored from close range. They stayed on the offensive and after strong close-in carries by McNabney and Nick Timoney, David McCann burrowed over.
But the half ended as it began, UBB springing into life off another fairly aimless kick, this time by James Hume, which was caught by Buros, and though hit by Timoney offloaded the ball where Carbery made a brilliant pickup and carry in one deft movement. After a blur of offloading by Carbery, Cyril Cazeaux Moefana and Mahamadou Diaby, off the recycle Buros finished from Maxime Lucu’s pass. Carbery ending the half with his fourth conversion.
But his game was ended early in the second half when slightly blindsided and hit hard by Stewart Moore, meaning Lucu tapped over an ensuing penalty, although Mathieu Jalibert was ready to come on anyway as UBB began unloading their bench.
Re-energised, their pack with the help of Moefana patiently rumbled over for Lamothe to score but Ulster, themselves boosted by the arrival of Matthew Dalton and Nathan Doak, responded with another purple patch.
Ward’s finish was ruled out, correctly, for an earlier knock-on by Doak but, undeterred, Ulster struck again when Stockdale offloaded out wide for Timoney to finish superbly by the corner flag when resisting the tackles of Penaud and Buros. On the hour, McCloskey hit Ward on the edge and after a big carry by Dalton, the centre did so again with an offload for Ward to finish by the other corner flag to make it 36-24 and make it interesting again.
But a tidy close-range finish by replacement centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg after a quick tap by Lucu put the game to bed, though only inside the last 10 minutes. There was still time for Ward’s well-taken second try when latching on to a terrible pass by Jalibert and Doak had a try disallowed for an earlier knock-on by Moore.
Against all manner of odds, and having looked like they might be pummelled after that three-try salvo in the opening quarter, Ulster were defiant to the end.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins Penaud try, Carbery con 7-0; 16 mins Tameifuna try, Carbery con 14-0; 20 mins Coleman try, Carbery con 21-0; 29 mins O’Toole try, Cooney con 21-7; 35 mnins McCann try, Cooney con 21-14; 40 (+1) mins Buros try, Carbery con 28-14; (half-time 28-14); 47 mins Lucu pen 31-14; 51 mins Lamothe try 36-14; 56 mins Timoney try, 36-19; 60 mins Ward try 36-24; 71 mins van Rensburg try, Jalibert con 43-24; 76 mins Ward try, Doak con 43-31.
Bordeaux Bègles: Romain Buros; Damian Penaud, Yoram Moefana, Ben Tapuai, Pablo Uberti; Joey Carbery, Maxime Lucu (capt); Jefferson Poirot, Maxime Lamothe, Ben Tameifuna; Cyril Cazeaux, Adam Coleman; Mahamadou Diaby, Guido Petti, Peter Samu.
Replacements: Matis Perchaud for Poirot (half-time), Sipili Falatea for Tameifuna, Pierre Bochaton for Coleman, Mathieu Jalibert for Carbery (all 47 mins), Romain Latterrade for Lamothe (52 mins), Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer for Diaby (55 mins), Rohan Janse van Rensburg for Tapuai (62 mins), Yann Lesgourgues for Lucu (71 mins).
Ulster: Mike Lowry; Zac Ward, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Murphy, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole; Alan O’Connor (capt), Kieran Treadwell; James McNabney, Nick Timoney, Dave McCann.
Replacements: Stewart Moore for Hume (half-time), Callum Reid for Warwick (45 mins), Nathan Doak for Cooney (51 mins), Matthew Dalton for O’Connor, Scott Wilson for O’Toole (both 56 mins), Tom Stewart for Herring (58 mins), Aidan Morgan for Murphy (62 mins), Matty Rea for McCann (65 mins), Hume for McCloskey (68 mins), Murphy for Hume (72 mins),
Referee: L Pearce (England).
