Clermont take charge of Pool Two
Last season's beaten finalists overtook the Ospreys with a power-packed performance that was aided by the sending off of the Bordeaux replacement lock Julien Le Devedec after 50 minutes.
He had only been on the field for a minute and was dismissed for leading with his head in a fracas.
It was the second red card for Bordeaux in this season's tournament and things got even worse for them moments later when replacement prop Francisco Gomes Kodela was given a yellow card for a late shoulder charge on the Man of the Match, Morgan Parra.
Bordeaux didn't concede any more points while they were reduced to 13 men, but there was a final sting in the tail for the home side when Jonathan Davies released wing Noa Nakitaci to dive over in the left corner for the visitor's third try of the match.
Lionel Beauxis notched the first points of the night with a penalty for Bordeaux, but last season's European Player of the Year, Nick Abendanon, raced over for his fifth Champions Cup try in 11 outings for Clermont.
Para knocked over the conversion and added a penalty before Bordeaux hooker Clement Maynardier rounded off a fantastic driving line-out move with a corner try that Beauxis improved off the touchline to make it 10-10. At that stage it was anyone's game.
But Clermont hit back just before the break with a try through Camille Lopez after a sweeping team move and Parra converted.
The French international scrum half then added two penalties in the space of four minutes to extend the lead to 23-10 before the Nakitaci try rounded off an excellent away performance to give his side a two point lead at the top of Pool 2 with a vital trip to the Ospreys coming up next week.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Try: Maynadier
Con: Beauxis
Pen: Beauxis
For Clermont Auvergne:
Tries: Abendanon, Lopez, Nakaitaci
Cons: Parra 2
Pens: Parra 3
Yellow cards: Francisco Gomez Kodela (Bordeaux, 55 – foul play, late shoulder charge), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont Auvergne, 75 – repeated infringements, killing then ball)
Red card: Julien Le Devedec (Bordeaux, 50 – foul play, striking with head)
Teams:
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Darly Domvo, 14 Metuisela Talebulamaijaina, 13 Felix Le Bourhis, 12 Romain Lonca, 11 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Louis Madaule, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Berend Botha, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Chambord, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Pierre Bernard, 23 Nans Ducuing.
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 David Strettle, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Vito Kolelishvili, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Raphael Chaume.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Michael Simutoga, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Loic Jacquet, 20 Fritz Lee, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic, 22 Pato Fernandez, 23 Aurélien Rougerie.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Seamus Flannery (Ireland)
Source: @ChampionsCup
