French teen steers Bordeaux to victory over Scarlets
EUROPEAN CUP REPORT: Eighteen-year-old Louis Bielle-Biarrey starred on his Champions Cup debut as the Union Bordeaux-Begles fullback notched a hat-trick in their 45-10 win over Scarlets.
Last year’s beaten semi-finalists notched seven tries – Cameron Woki, Geoffrey Cros, Maxime Lamothe and Nans Ducuing the quartet to dot down in addition to the sensational teenager.
Scarlets mustered a pair of second half tries in response – Liam Williams and Gareth Davies on the scoresheet for the Welsh region.
Bielle-Biarrey was named in a much changed XV for the hosts which included Argentinian international Santiago Cordero at scrum-half for the first time in Bordeaux colours.
The opening try of the contest came mid-way through the first half, and was certainly worth the wait. Scarlets Liam Williams mishandled a high ball allowing Bordeaux to capitalise.
A free-flowing passing combination involving Matthieu Jalibert and Cordero opened up the Scarlets defense before Jalibert offloaded at the last second to Woki who capped-off a sensational try.
The lead was doubled moments later. Cordero timed an offload to perfection as he hit Bielle-Biarrey at full speed as he dissected the Scarlets defensive line, powering his way through a tackler to dot down under the posts.
Williams’ afternoon went from bad to worse on the half hour as he was sent to the sin bin. Bordeaux took full advantage, Jalibert unleashed a long pass out to the right for Bielle-Biarrey who in turn found Geoffrey Cros for the third try of the contest.
Bielle-Biarrey’s second try of the afternoon came four minutes into the second half – Jalibert again the creator. Jalibert’s pass was juggled by the full-back, but he grasped the ball at the second attempt, crossing the whitewash untouched.
Scarlets then got on the scoreboard with a try of their own. A sumptuous cross field kick from replacement Rhys Patchell was picked up by Liam Williams, the full-back dotted down with a superman dive in the corner.
Cordero then turned provider again for Bordeaux’s fifth try. A Patchell clearance was caught by the Argentinian who ran through a gauntlet of would-be tacklers before finding Lamothe in space, the replacement hooker finishing the move.
Davies then intercepted a cross field kick for Scarlets before racing the length of the field for a second try for the Welsh. Bordeaux responded within minutes as Nans Ducuing benefitted from a Bastien Vergnes offload to notch the hosts’ sixth try.
There was still time for Bielle-Biarrey to complete his hat-trick, he walked into the corner off the back of a well worked Bordeaux scrum, completing the rout.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux-Begles:
Tries: Woki, Bielle-Biarrey 3, Cros, Lamothe, Ducuing,
Cons: Jalibert 3, Bielle-Biarrey, Cordero
For Scarlets
Tries: L Williams, G Davies
Bordeaux: 15 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 14 Geoffrey Cros, 13 Ulupano Seuteni, 12 Yoram Falatea-Moefana, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 8 Alban Roussel, 7 Bastien Vergnes, 6 Cameron Woki, 5 Jandré Marais, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Thierry Paiva
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Pierre Bochaton, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Matthieu Jalibert, 23 Federico Mori
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies (captain), 12 Scott Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Aaron Shingler, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Ioan Nicholas
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson (England), John Meredith (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
