Penaud stars as Bordeaux see off Bristol Bears
MATCH REPORT: Bordeaux-Bègles wing Damian Penaud put in an exquisite performance as the French side ran out 36-17 winners over Bristol Bears in the Champions Cup.
After two matches, Bordeaux now have two bonus-point wins and sit on top of Pool One having more than demonstrated their early title credentials.
A young Bristol Bears side scored twice, but the French team scored five tries in front of a 27 000 strong crowd at the Stade Chaban-Delmas; Penaud, scrumhalf Maxime Lucu, wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey, centre Ben Tapuai and replacement scrumhalf Théo Nanette all went over.
Three of those came in the first half, with Penaud playing a crucial role in creating both Lucu’s early cross and Bielle-Biarrey’s score before chipping in with his own.
Lucu added two conversions and a penalty to leave a youthful Bristol Bears thoroughly behind at the break, with flyhalf Sam Worsley’s penalty their only score.
The visitors somewhat stemmed the Bordeaux-Bègles tide early in the second half, but eventually the French side went over once more in the 55th minute as Tapuai secured the bonus point.
Lucu converted to bring his personal tally up to 14 and the scrumhalf was soon replaced, leaving the field to a standing ovation following a brilliant innings.
It was then that Bristol Bears secured their first try, a more-than-fair reward for their efforts, as replacement James Dun went over with 20-year-old Worsley converting.
Replacement scrumhalf Nanette added a fifth for Bordeaux-Bègles in the 66th minute, flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert converting, before his opposite number Oscar Lennon added a second converted score for the visitors.
Bordeaux ended the game with 14 men on the pitch after centre Yoram Moefana was judged to have made one too many late tackles, but it meant little as the French side triumphed on the night.
They will face Saracens and the Bulls in January as their search for a first-ever Champions Cup title continues, while Bristol Bears can take some confidence from their first two displays into their Round Three and Four matches against the Bulls and Connacht.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux:
Tries: Lucu, Bielle-Biarrey, Penaud, Tapuai, Nanette
Cons: Lucu 3, Jalibert
Pen: Lucu
For Bristol:
Tries: Dun, Lennon
Cons: Worsley 2
Pen: Worsley
Yellow card: Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux, 79′ – repeated infringements)
Teams:
Bordeaux: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Yoram Moefana, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Mahamadou Diaby, 6 Bastien Vergnes, 5 Thomas Jolmes, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Marko Gazzotti, 21 Antoine Miquel, 22 Théo Nanette, 23 Pablo Uberti.
Bristol: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Sam Wolstenholme, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jake Heenan (captain), 6 Joe Owen, 5 Josh Caulfield, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Sam Grahamslaw, 18 Steven Longwell, 19 James Dun, 20 Paddy Pearce, 21 Oscar Lennon, 22 Joe Jenkins, 22 Jack Bates.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Padraic Reidy (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
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