Playmaker Jalibert inspires Bordeaux to Champions Cup glory

MATCH REPORT: Flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert inspired Bordeaux-Begles to a thrilling 28-20 victory over Northampton on Saturday to win the Champions Cup for the first time at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium.

Jalibert, 26, was pivotal in three of the French club’s four tries before lock Cyril Cazeaux’s crucial second-half score sealed a historic success.

Northampton’s hopes of a second Champions Cup crown were severely damaged as they suffered three key injuries in the opening half an hour including to fullback George Furbank.

Pre-match, their Director of Rugby Phil Dowson was forced to move flank Henry Pollock to No.8 to cover the injured Juarno Augustus as they eyed making up for defeat in the final to Leinster in 2011 at the same stadium.

Dowson also started four players, including lock Temo Mayanavanua, who were fitness doubts coming into the decider.

Bordeaux-Begles head coach Yannick Bru was able to start superstar wing Damian Penaud after the tournament’s top try-scorer this term recovered from an ankle injury suffered in the semifinal win over Toulouse.

The English club fired out of the blocks with a similar tempo to their surprise last four win over four-time winners Leinster and led 7-0 after just three minutes.

Flank Alex Coles crashed over and flyhalf Fin Smith, one of four British and Irish Lions squad members on show, slotted the simple conversion with the majority of the crowd being Saints fans in full voice.

The rip-roaring start slowed down briefly as Saints’ Furbank was carried off the field on a stretcher after an in-air collision with Penaud on two minutes after wing James Ramm had left the field with a leg issue.

When play resumed the French outfit cut the deficit to two points as Penaud strolled over but Smith’s opposite number Jalibert failed with the conversion.

Quiet Pollock

After a rip-roaring first half the teams were level 20-20 as lock Adam Coleman scored and Penaud his second before Coles claimed a double of his own with the clock in the red.

Jalibert’s influence was highlighted in the build-up to Coleman’s try with a perfectly-timed turnover and his assist for Penaud’s later touchdown.

Both sides spent spells of the opening 40 down a man as Bordeaux-Begles lost Mahamadou Diaby to the sinbin for a high tackle Saints lock Temo Mayanavanua, who followed Furbank and Ramm of the field.

Tommy Freeman was yellow carded for Northampton, who were denied the chance to retake the lead two minutes after the break as a previously quiet Pollock had his effort chalked off for obstruction.

Just five minutes into the second half Saints were shown another yellow card as Mayanavanua’s replacement Ed Prowse was binned for a high tackle on centre Yoram Moefana.

Jalibert kicked Bordeaux-Begles into 23-20 lead from the following penalty with Bru’s outfit pressuring the Saints’ line.

The extra man finally paid off just before the hour mark as Coleman’s second-row partner Cazeaux powered through to make it 28-20 and secure the title.

Man of the match: Captain and scrumhalf Maxime Lucu was a general on the field. He made excellent decisions and he controlled the tempo of the game well in pressure situations. However, we have decided to give the award to Matthieu Jalibert, who was excellent with ball in hand once again and he played a big role in three of his team’s four tries of tries.

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Coles 2
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith 2

For Union Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Penaud 2, Coleman, Cazeaux
Con: Jalibert
Pens: Jalibert, Lucu

Yellow cards: Mahamadou Diaby (Bordeaux, 30′ – foul play, dangerous tackle); Tommy Freeman (Saints, 37′ – foul play, tackling a player in the air); Ed Prowse (Saints, 44′ – foul play, dangerous tackle)

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Josh Kemeny, 6 Alex Coles, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun.
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Tom James, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.

Union Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 8 Pete Samu, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Connor Sa, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Pierre Bochaton, 20 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 21 Marko Gazzotti, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace, Andrea Piardi
TMO: Marius Jonker