Bordeaux outclass Van Graan's Bath

MATCH REPORT: Defending Champions Cup champions Bordeaux Begles secured their ticket to the Final in Bilbao on May 23 after defeating Johann van Graan’s Bath by 38-26 in the semifinal on Sunday.

Bordeaux will defend their title against Leinster at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain.

Leinster defeated Toulon by 29-25 in the first semifinal on Saturday.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

Bordeaux drew first blood in the opening two minutes when Marko Gazzotti busted over the line, which stemmed from a Damian Penaud linebreak. Maxime Lucu slotted the conversion.

Bath struck back five minutes later when Will Muir dotted down following a Finn Russell crossfield kick. Russell added the extras to level matters at 7-7.

In-form France international winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey punished Bath with a try in the corner on the 15-minute mark, which Lucu converted, with Bath much as the first try being guilty of being stretched out wide defensively.

Muir grabbed a brace in the 26th minute as Bath showed slick handling with the ball in hand off a line-out. Russel failed to add the extras as Bordeaux held onto a two-point lead.

Bordeaux stretched their lead five minutes before halftime when Lucu went over under the posts and converted his own try to etch out a nine-point lead.

The defending champions extended their lead before the break to 12 points after Lucu slotted a penalty to send his team 24-12 ahead heading to the sheds.

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Bath squandered several scoring opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of the second half but eventually got over the line on the 50-minute mark through Louie Hennessy, which Russell converted to reduce the deficit to five points.

Bordeaux seemed to have given themselves some breathing room on the scoreboard when Gaetan Barlot scored off the back of a line-out maul, but the referee called on his TMO to check the grounding, and it was ruled that the ball had been lost forward in the act of scoring, with the try being chalked off in the process.

Bath lost Charlie Ewels to the sinbin for illegally collapsing a maul in the 66th minute.

The defending champions were on penalty advantage and opted for the tap and play move, which paid off when Ben Tameifuna barged over under the posts from close range. Lucu’s conversion restored the 12 point led with 11 minutes left on the clock.

Temo Matiu sealed the deal and put the cherry on top, scoring the final try of the match in the 77th minute to send his team into the Final against Leinster.

Bath had the final say and got a consolation score after the fulltime hooter had sounded through Tom Carr-Smith, which Russell converted to bring an end to proceedings.

Scorers

For Union Bordeaux Bègles:
Tries: Gazzotti, Bielle-Biarrey, Lucu, Tameifuna, Matiu
Cons: Lucu 5
Pens: Lucu

For Bath:
Tries: Muir 2, Hennessey, Carr-Smith
Con: Russell 3

Yellow card: Charlie Ewels (Bath, 66′ – Cynical foul: Illegally collapsing a maul)

Teams

Union Bordeaux Bègles: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Pablo Uberti, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (c), 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Boris Palu, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Matis Perchaud
Replacements: 16 Gaetan Barlot, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Cyril Cazeaux, 20 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 21 Temo Matiu, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Hugo Reus

Bath: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Henry Arundell, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Billy Sela, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Tom de Glanville, 23 Miles Reid

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)