Brilliant Bordeaux clean out Bath to reach Champions Cup final / Photo: ROMAIN PERROCHEAU - AFP
Brilliant Bordeaux clean out Bath to reach Champions Cup final
Louis Bielle-Biarrey was on target for holders Bordeaux-Begles as they booked their place in the Champions Cup final with a thrilling 38-26 win over English champions Bath at the Stade Atlantique on Sunday.
The start of the match was delayed by 10 minutes because of the driving rain but the conditions, which dried up, had no effect on a pulsating contest.
Marko Gazzoti, Maxime Lucu, Ben Tameifuma and Temo Matiu also touched down for Bordeaux who will defend their title when they face Irish province Leinster in the final at the San Mames Stadium, Bilbao on May 23.
Bordeaux started with their foot on the pedal. Just two minutes in, they switched the ball out left, Damian Penaud carved a hole in the Bath defence and No.8 Gazzotti piled through for the first try.
Bath took it in the stride, England scrum-half Ben Spencer's perfectly-weighted kick to the corner giving left wing Will Muir a simple touchdown which Finn Russell converted to level the scores.
That was the cue for Bielle-Biarrey to motor through for his eighth try in the tournament this season - his 29th in 27 matches in total - to put Bordeaux back in front.
But again Bath refused to lie down. A series of pick and gos saw Alfie Barbeary cross the Bordeaux line but he was unable to get the ball down.
Moments later, Bath moved the ball wide again, Harry Arundell creating the space for Muir who lived up to his nickname of 'The Horse' by galloping for the corner and diving through the tackle to grab his second try.
Six minutes before the break, some slick home handling opened up the Bath defence and Lucu scored under the posts before adding his third conversion.
The France scrum-half then added a penalty just before the break to give Bordeaux a 24-12 lead at the break.
Bath, who came back from 21-point deficit to beat Northampton in the quarter-finals, battled hard at the of the second half and closed the gap 10 minutes in.
One flowing attack ended with Santiago Carreras spilling the ball with the line at his mercy but from the ensuing penalty, the ball found its way to centre Loui Hennessey who forced his way through for the try.
With the gap down to five points Bath had a golden opportunity to snatch the lead but they made a mess of a line-out five metres from the Bordeaux line.
The French side punished them 10 minutes from time when Tonga prop Tameifuma, all 151kgs of him, crashed through for the try.
Matiu topped off a fine performance two minutes from the end before Tom Carr-Smith grabbed a consolation try for the 1998 champions.
(P.Kruger--TPT)
