Gloucester beat Bordeaux for Round of 16 spot
MATCH REPORT: Gloucester hooker George McGuigan was the hero as he dotted down twice in a 26-17 win over Union Bordeaux-Bègles on Saturday to earn a place in the Champions Cup Round of 16.
A recent signing to the club, McGuigan powered over on the back of two well-worked lineouts, while No.8 Albert Tuisue also crossed the whitewash in an exceptional performance away from home. George Barton added 11 points with the boot.
Jules Gimbert and Ugo Boniface notched for Bordeaux who were beset with ill-discipline for large portions of the contest, earning three yellow cards in crucial periods.
Bordeaux opened the scoring in the opening two minutes in a frenetic start by the hosts – Matthieu Jalibert booted through a penalty from the tee.
The French international fly-half would be in the thick of the action once again on 15 minutes as he brought in a kick before offloading to Santiago Cordero, the Argentinian, in turn, finding Gimbert in a breathtaking move down the Bordeaux right.
Gloucester, however, enjoyed the majority of possession and territory in the latter part of the first half, and notched their first try on 24 minutes. Hooker McGuigan rolled on the back of maul off a lineout and broke through the centre to dot down.
The hosts were then reduced to 13 men late in the first half following successive yellow cards – Mahamadou Diaby and Boniface committing a late tackle and deliberate knock-on respectively.
Gloucester took advantage of the yellow cards early in the second half to take the lead. A scrum deep inside the Bordeaux 22 provided dividends when Tuisue released from the back and broke two tackles on the way to the try-line.
Bordeaux responded in emphatic fashion with a try of their own. Boniface was the man to eventually go over after a series of pick-and-goes, all set up by the frenetic pace injected by the standout Jalibert.
Jalibert was then sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on of his own and Gloucester took advantage with a trio of penalties from the boot of Barton as the hosts lost their discipline.
Gloucester then produced a carbon copy of their first try of the afternoon, McGuigan again the scorer as he rumbled over on the back of a lineout maul.
Bordeaux bow out of EPCR competition for the 2022-23 campaign with their defeat, with Gloucester taking eighth place in Pool A.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux Begles
Tries: Gimbert, Boniface;
Cons: Jalibert 2
Pen: Jalibert
For Gloucester
Tries: McGuigan 2, Tuisue;
Con: Barton
Pens: Barton 3
Yellow cards: Mahamadou Diaby (Bordeaux, 34), Ugo Boniface Bordeaux, 35), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux, 53)
Teams:
Bordeaux: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Pablo Uberti, 12 Yoram Falatea-Moefana, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Jules Gimbert, 8 Caleb Timu, 7 Mahamadou Diaby (captain), 6 Antoine Miquel, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Connor Sa, 1 Ugo Boniface
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Christopher Vaotoa, 19 Jandré Marais, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Hugo Zabalza, 22 Matéo Garcia, 23 Jean-Baptiste Dubié
Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Jonny May, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Cam Jordan, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Freddie Thomas, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Jack Reeves, 23 Lloyd Evans
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Source: @ChampionsCup
