Bordeaux fight back to sink Ulster

MATCH REPORT: It was as if Bordeaux had had no time away from the pitch since last week’s impressive Leicester Tigers win as they put new meaning into ‘hit the ground running’.

They recorded their second win of the 2024/2025 Champions Cup season when they beat Ulster 40-19 in Belfast on Saturday.

A dangerously positioned line-out ended in Tevita Tatafu scoring the opening try after just two minutes.

But this was not to set the tone for the rest of the first half, as Ulster instantly struck back through Cormac Izuchukwu.

The Irish side’s afternoon got even better when Nick Timoney wriggled over the line to end a clever move from the hosts.

Fired up by suddenly finding themselves behind, Bordeaux started to change the momentum of the game. Their renewed efforts soon paid off as they got a penalty try.

But with two men in the sin bin, as the break approached, Ulster made their man advantage count as Werner Kok found space after a textbook switch of play to dive home to give the Irish side a five-point lead.

The French side was pegged back to a scoreless second half until past the hour mark when a rapid cross-field move saw Damian Penaud swan into the Ulster red zone untouched.

That was not enough for the visitors as they maintained their foot well and truly on the gas following finding the lead.

And their efforts were soon rewarded when Guido Petti sealed off a delightful assist to seal the bonus point.

It was then the turn of the youngster of the moment, Louis Bielle-Biarrey to get his name on the scoresheet as his pace proved decisive to the UBB counter as he powered down the wing to score a try.

This set the tone for the rest of the affair, with Bordeaux controlling the latter stages and even forcing over a final try in the last two minutes thanks to a Ugo Boniface try at the death.

Inflicting a second consecutive loss on Ulster after last week’s Stade Toulousain defeat, Bordeaux come from behind once more to prove exactly why they are pipped as one of the favourites for the tournament.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: Izuchukwu, Timoney, Kok
Cons: Doak 2

For Bordeaux:
Tries: Tatafu, Penalty Try, Penaud, Petti, Bielle-Biarrey, Boniface
Cons: Carbery 2, Garcia 2

Yellow cards: Marko Gazzotti (Bordeaux, 16′); Dave McCann (Ulster, 27′); Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux, 31′); Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux, 31′)

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Dave McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Rory Telfer.

Bordeaux: 15 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Arthur Retiere, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Lachie Swinton, 6 Marko Gazzotti, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Romain Latterrade, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Alexandre Ricard, 21 Bastien Vergnes, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Matéo Garcia.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Franco Rosella (Italy), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)