Champions Bordeaux beat Toulouse to tee up Bath showdown
MATCH REPORT: Reigning champions Union Bordeaux Bègles capitalised on costly discipline lapses from Stade Toulousain to secure a hard-fought win and book a Champions Cup semifinal against Premiership holders Bath.
Toulouse looked in control early on, but the game swung when prop Dorian Aldegheri saw red, and captain Antoine Dupont was sin-binned. Bordeaux seized the momentum in a gripping, high-intensity contest that, while lower scoring than expected, delivered relentless physicality throughout.
The match featured 24 players from the France national rugby union team squad that won the Six Nations, underlining the quality on show. Bordeaux struck first through a powerful maul finished by hooker Maxime Lamothe, but Toulouse responded quickly as Romain Ntamack crossed to edge the visitors ahead.
Despite being reduced to 14 men before the break, Toulouse extended their lead through Teddy Thomas, but Bordeaux came out firing in the second half. Flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert sparked the comeback with a clever finish, before Dupont’s yellow card left Toulouse down to 13 men at a crucial stage.
Bordeaux made their numerical advantage count as their pack took control, with Ben Tameifuna crashing over to put them in front. A penalty from Maxime Lucu stretched the lead before, in the closing stages, replacement Arthur Retière sealed the result with a decisive fourth try.
The victory keeps Bordeaux’s title defence alive and extends the dominance of French clubs in the competition, with teams from France having won the last five editions.
Scorers:
For Bordeaux:
Tries: Lamothe, Jalibert, Tameifuna, Retiere
Cons: Lucu 2
Pens: Lucu 2
For Stade Toulousain:
Tries: Ntamack, Thomas
Cons: Ramos
Pens: Ramos
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 (captain), 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Boris Palu, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Gaetan Barlot, 17 Matis Perchaud, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Tiaan Jacobs, 20 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 21 Temo Matiu, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Hugo Reus
Stade Toulousain: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Kalvin Gourgues, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Jack Willis, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 David Ainu’u
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Joshua Brennan, 20 Leo Banos, 21 Théo Ntamack, 22 Paul Graou, 23 Blair Kinghorn
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Morne Ferreira (Wales)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
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