Following Bordeaux Begles’ 42-28 victory over the Leicester Tigers in the Investec Champions Cup, here are our five takeaways.
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The definition of a game of two halves as a spirited Leicester Tigers team took a 21-14 lead into half-time after tries from Harry Wells, Josh Bassett and a popular score from Come Joussain, offsetting the tries from Pete Samu and Guido Petti.
However, the hairdryer treatment seemingly did the trick for last season’s Top 14 bridesmaids, who came out firing in the second half and landed blows that a changed Tigers team just couldn’t handle. Louis Bielle-Biarrey kick-started the Bordeaux party just three minutes into the second half and he grabbed another shortly after Samu dotted down once again.
That 10-minute blitz settled proceedings with Nicolas Depoortere crossing for another stunner as the hosts put on a show for their baying fans, only for Tigers to show a little bit of bite to grab a bonus point when Hanro Liebenberg charged just short of the line before Izaia Perese finished off the score.
Brave young Tigers roar
With Cheika needing to rest many of his star men for the trip across the Channel, few gave the Tigers much of a chance against a stocked Bordeaux outfit and even fewer would have had odds on them leading the mighty Top 14 outfit after 40 minutes. But when referee Nika Amashukeli blew his whistle to bring an end to the first half, it was in fact the Premiership underdogs who had more heart and points in the fight leading 21-14.
It was a mighty effort from Leicester void of the likes of Handre Pollard, Julian Montoya, Tommy Reffell, Dan Cole and Ollie Chessum – to name just a few. They fronted up physically and in the tight exchanges and limited the brilliance of the Bordeaux backs with Wells, Bassett and Joussain all grabbing five points – the latter of which even cheered by the home fans.
Leicester have been in need of somewhat of a rebuild after an underwhelming season in 2023/24 and by hook, crook or a dash of luck, Cheika has that. Today showed that perhaps he can’t do wholesale changes against a quality team such as Bordeaux but many of the men given their opportunity today more than made the most of it for 40 minutes – some for longer – at least.
Perhaps the player whose stocks rose most for their outing was James Cronin who did a hell of a job against the brilliant Ben Tameifuna come scrum time. Despite what the commentary suggested, the Tongan tighthead is a force in the set-piece and shifting 140kgs backwards is some task alone that’s before considering the force coming in your direction.
Jamie Shillcock also impressed during his shift while we have to mention Liebenberg even if it was just another stock-standard top-drawer performance that Leicester fans have become accustomed to from the big South African back-rower.
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Brilliant Bordeaux blitz
But all of Leicester’s fine work was quickly flogged off in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as Bordeaux shook off their shackles and ripped what then looked like a toothless Tigers defence, running in three sensational tries in eight minutes.
Front and centre of Bordeaux’s efforts was Chief King Carnage himself, Damian Penaud, whose dodgy kick from a turnover proved the rule that a kick is only as good as its chase and thankfully for the Frenchman, it was his rapid back three partner Louis Bielle-Biarrey chasing it and he was not to be beaten as he cantered in for his first try.
Penaud was involved again for the second try, albeit less influential, as he slapped a pass on that led to a line break and the brilliant Jalibert was on hand to send a gorgeous cross kick out to Samu – to Cheika’s dismay as the man he handed a Wallabies debut back in 2018 scored the bonus point try.
Again, the cliche that a kick is only as good as the chase was proven as a Maxime Lucu gaffe landed fortuitously into Penaud’s arms and the Les Bleus winger sped away before throwing a pass so rubbish that it went off his teammate’s shins and moments later Bielle-Biarrey was in again.
That 10-minute blitz was hugely profitable as Bordeaux racked up 21 of their 28 points in the second 40 in that period, adding just one more through another rising star, young centre Nicolas Depoortere. Leicester simply had no chance of turning the tide from there and it was a statement shift from Bordeaux who are well-placed to make a good tilt in the Top 14 and Champions Cup from here, especially with the insane playing stocks they have.
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The Matthieu Jalibert show
After throwing his toys out of the cot during the Autumn Nations Series after failing to make the 23 to tackle the All Blacks, Matthieu Jalibert has been on a mission to prove Fabien Galthie wrong and, so far, he is succeeding.
Despite his adolescent outburst last month, Jalibert put in a rather grown-up performance today as he masterminded Leicester’s downfall. He popped up with two try assists but had a hand in just about all six tries that his side scored. He also took on the responsibility of kicking for the posts and there he delivered, too, converting all six of his shots at goal.
Much of Bordeaux’s success came through their excellent open play kicking, led by Jalibert. and several times throughout the game, he was cool, calm and collected in the backfield, making superb decisions.
He has a lot to do to change Galthie’s mind of him and the return of Romain Ntamack does not help his chances of reclaiming a place in the matchday 23 for the upcoming Six Nations, but he is making a good fist of it with his form at club level.
What’s next?
Bordeaux lay down a marker in the second half of this match and will look to back that up next week when they head to Belfast, where they will be dubbed as favourites once again. There is much they will need to work on if this is to be their season – most importantly their scrum – and frankly, the only time they may really be tested by a possible contender is when they tackle the Sharks in their final pool stage match, by which point they may well be fielding a second string team.
As for the Tigers, they will be pleased that they came away with a bonus point, particularly with the challenge that awaits them next, the Sharks. The Durbanites have a growing injury list but will still arrive at Welford Road with a mighty team and an even mightier pack.
It doesn’t get much easier from there for Chieka’s charges with Ulster and Toulouse thereafter.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/bordeaux-v-leicester-tigers-five-takeaways-as-matthieu-jalibert-produces-a-grown-up-shift-after-adolescent-outburst
