Bordeaux-Bègles powered past Bath 38-26 at the Stade Atlantique to set up an Investec Champions Cup final against Leinster in Bilbao on 23 May. The defending champions were worthy winners in a breathless semi-final, with captain Maxime Lucu finishing with 18 points and the Player of the Match award as the French side’s quality off the bench ultimately proved decisive.
Key moments
2 mins – TRY BORDEAUX: The defending champions strike early. Damian Penaud rounds Ollie Lawrence and carries 40 metres before being hauled down. Bath’s defence never recovers and Marko Gazzotti smashes over from close range. Maxime Lucu converts. (Bordeaux 7–0 Bath)
8 mins – TRY BATH: Bath hit back with a stunning score. Henry Arundell claims a cross-kick on the right before Ben Spencer smacks a brilliant high kick from right to left, finding Will Muir in space to catch and touch down. Finn Russell converts via the post. (Bordeaux 7–7 Bath)
15 mins – TRY BORDEAUX: Louis Bielle-Biarrey finishes on the left wing after Lucu’s pass to Matthieu Jalibert takes defenders out of the equation and Bath run out of bodies on the right flank. Pablo Uberti provides the final pass. Lucu converts from the touchline. (Bordeaux 14–7 Bath)
22 mins – HELD UP: Alfie Barbeary punches his way over the line from a tap penalty but Bordeaux get their bodies under the ball and hold it up. Bath retain possession with a penalty advantage.
27 mins – TRY BATH: A superb team move releases Will Muir on the left wing. Arundell breaks on the outside arc before feeding Muir, who dives for the corner and dots down despite Lucu’s attempt to force him into touch. A world-class finish. Russell’s conversion from wide drifts just past the post. (Bordeaux 14–12 Bath)
35 mins – TRY BORDEAUX: Jalibert feints to pass outside from a scrum before switching inside to Lucu, fatally unbalancing the Bath defence. Some remarkable handling from Lucu, who taps the ball upwards and over his head before twisting to catch it, and the scrum-half eventually crashes over under the posts. Lucu converts. (Bordeaux 21–12 Bath)
40 mins – PENALTY BORDEAUX: Guy Pepper penalised for not rolling away after Penaud carries deep into the Bath 22 from a scrum. Lucu slots the kick right in front. (Bordeaux 24–12 Bath)
Half-time: Bordeaux 24–12 Bath.
42 mins – MISSED HEAD CONTACT: Lucu appears to make head contact on Barbeary but the officials do not review it. Premier Sports commentators suggest it should have been a yellow card.
48 mins – KNOCK-ON: Bath go through more than 20 attacking phases in the Bordeaux 22 but Santiago Carreras spills the ball with the try-line at his mercy.
50 mins – TRY BATH: From a tap penalty seven metres out, Bath’s forwards go through several phases before Louie Hennessey steps back inside the rush defence and uses his footwork to weave past two tacklers, reaching out to ground the ball by inches. Russell converts. (Bordeaux 24–19 Bath)
64 mins – LINEOUT LOST: A crucial turning point. Kepu Tuipulotu’s throw goes through the fingers of Charlie Ewels at the five-metre lineout, gifting Bordeaux possession deep in their own half.
66 mins – NO TRY BORDEAUX: Cameron Woki takes at the lineout and the maul drives for the line. It is dragged down illegally but replacement hooker Gaetan Barlot appears to break off and ground the ball. The TMO rules the ball was dislodged by Sam Underhill’s knee before grounding.
66 mins – YELLOW CARD BATH: Charlie Ewels sent to the sin-bin for illegally dragging down the driving maul. (Bordeaux 24–19 Bath)
69 mins – TRY BORDEAUX: Ben Tameifuna makes his trademark impact off the bench, blasting over from a tap penalty after sustained pressure near the Bath line. Lucu converts. (Bordeaux 31–19 Bath)
77 mins – TRY BORDEAUX: The game is sealed. Penaud breaks on the outside and passes inside to Arthur Retiere, who weaves into the 22. His offload hits Bath replacement Tom Carr-Smith but the scrum-half cannot hold on and Temo Matiu claims the loose ball and runs in. Lucu converts. (Bordeaux 38–19 Bath)
80 mins – TRY BATH: A consolation. Bath steal the ball at a lineout and Carreras releases Arundell, who chips ahead. The hosts make a hash of gathering the bouncing ball and Carr-Smith is on hand to claim it and score. Russell converts. (Bordeaux 38–26 Bath)
Full-time: Bordeaux 38–26 Bath
Match report
Bath had hoped that a return to Bordeaux might rekindle fond memories of their Champions Cup triumph in the city in 1998. Instead, it was the hosts who moved a big step closer to retaining the trophy they secured at Northampton’s expense in Cardiff last year. Bordeaux will face Leinster in the final in Bilbao on 23 May, propelled there by the familiar trio of their brilliant half-backs Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert and star wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who scored one of his side’s five tries for his 29th of the season across club and country.
Kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes to allow the sold-out 42,000 crowd to filter into the Stade Atlantique, and there had been some pre-match rain that left the surface greasy. None of that seemed to bother Bordeaux, who registered a try inside two minutes through number eight Gazzotti. Damian Penaud made a searing outside break, rounding Ollie Lawrence and carrying 40 metres before being hauled down. Bath’s defensive shape never recovered and Gazzotti arrived to crash over from close range, with Lucu converting.
Bath responded swiftly through the boot of their half-backs. Finn Russell’s cross-field kick gained territory before Spencer delivered an inch-perfect chip from right to left, picking out an unmarked Muir who had a simple run-in on the left wing. Russell converted via the post for 7-7 after eight minutes.
The noise cranked up again when Bielle-Biarrey struck in the 15th minute. A lineout drive softened up the Bath defence before Lucu’s pass to Jalibert took enough defenders out of the equation, and the France wing darted in on the left with nonchalant ease for his eighth try of the European campaign. Lucu’s touchline conversion restored a seven-point advantage.
Bath were far from finished. Alfie Barbeary was prominent as the English champions pounded the Bordeaux line between the 20th and 25th minutes, and the number eight was held up over the tryline as the hosts scrambled desperately. Louie Hennessey then burst through the midfield from a Lawrence pop pass, only for Bielle-Biarrey to haul him down with his superior pace before he could reach the corner.
It was the first of three incidents involving apparent head contact on Barbeary that Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan would highlight post-match, with Adam Coleman’s challenge in the 22nd minute going unreviewed by the TMO. Van Graan was careful to praise the match officials but questioned the consistency of the television footage made available to the TMO, an issue that has dogged away teams in France.
Muir’s second try was a thing of beauty. Arundell drew defenders on the outside arc before feeding his fellow wing, who still had a lot to do. Muir crashed through Lucu’s tackle and produced a superb one-handed diving finish in the corner. Russell’s wide conversion drifted past the post, leaving Bath trailing 14-12 in the 27th minute.
One small knock-on was all Bordeaux needed to wrest back the initiative. A scrum penalty cranked up the pressure before the hosts turned to their dagger-sharp half-backs. Jalibert feinted to pass outside from a scrum but switched inside to Lucu, fatally unbalancing the Bath defence. What followed was remarkable — Lucu initially juggled the ball, tapping it upwards and over his head before twisting to catch it, keeping the move alive. He eventually crashed over under the posts despite Tom Dunn’s best efforts, and converted his own try for 21-12 in the 35th minute.
Lucu added a penalty on the stroke of half-time after Guy Pepper was penalised for not rolling away, sending Bordeaux into the break with a 24-12 lead. It was a scoreline that reflected their clinical finishing rather than total domination — Bath had competed fiercely for territory and possession, and Muir had been exceptional.
The second half opened with a Lucu knock-on gifting Bath an attacking scrum inside the Bordeaux 22. It was crucial Bath scored next, and they went close when Carreras juggled Russell’s pass with the tryline at his mercy before spilling the ball forward. It was the kind of moment that separates semi-final winners from losers.
Bath kept pressing through punishing forward drives and were rewarded in the 50th minute when Hennessey capitalised on the space created by the pick-and-go work, stepping back inside the rush defence and reaching out to ground the ball by inches. Russell converted for 24-19 and the contest was alive again with half an hour to play.
Bordeaux’s coaching staff chose that moment to unleash their heavy artillery. Ben Tameifuna, Cyril Cazeaux and Temo Matiu all entered the fray, and the impact was immediate. The hosts’ carrying power increased significantly, with Jalibert twice almost jinxing his way to the tryline as the French pressure mounted.
The turning point came in the 64th minute. With Bath trailing by five and holding an attacking lineout deep in Bordeaux territory, Kepu Tuipulotu’s throw went through the fingers of Charlie Ewels. It was a terrible waste of a massive platform and Bordeaux were delighted to escape. Two minutes later, Cameron Woki took at a lineout and the maul drove for the line. Ewels dragged it down illegally and while replacement hooker Barlot appeared to score, the TMO ruled the ball had been dislodged by Sam Underhill’s knee.
Ewels was sent to the sin-bin for collapsing the maul and Bordeaux wasted no time exploiting their numerical advantage. From a tap penalty, Tameifuna made his trademark devastating impact, blasting over from close range in the 69th minute. Lucu converted for 31-19 and the game was effectively over as a contest.
Matiu added a fifth try in the 77th minute after Penaud broke on the outside and Arthur Retiere weaved into the 22. His offload hit Bath replacement Carr-Smith, who could not hold on, and Matiu claimed the loose ball to run in. Lucu’s conversion gave him a perfect kicking record for the afternoon. Carr-Smith scored a consolation try with the final play after Arundell’s chip through, but Bordeaux had long since booked their ticket to Bilbao.
Russell cut a frustrated figure afterwards, acknowledging that Bath had not taken their chances and had given away soft entries into their own half. Spencer praised the group’s journey under van Graan but admitted it was a step too far. Tameifuna was typically understated, crediting the crowd and saying the conditions demanded patience in possession.
Bordeaux head coach Yannick Bru described the contest as being like a boxing fight for 70 minutes, where every time a team dropped their guard, points were taken. For Bath, the wait for another European trophy will stretch to 29 years, but their return to the semi-final stage for the first time in two decades confirmed their re-emergence among the continent’s elite. For Bordeaux, the chance to go back-to-back against Leinster in an unprecedented final awaits.
Scorers
Bordeaux 38: Tries: Gazzotti (2), Bielle-Biarrey (15), Lucu (35), Tameifuna (69), Matiu (77). Conversions: Lucu (5/6). Penalties: Lucu (1/1).
Bath 26: Tries: Muir (8, 27), Hennessey (50), Carr-Smith (80). Conversions: Russell (3/4).
Half-time: 24–12.
Yellow card: Ewels (Bath, 66).
Teams
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Pablo Uberti (A Retiere 60), 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 1 Matis Perchaud (U Boniface 60), 2 Maxime Lamothe (G Barlot 60), 3 Carlü Sadie (B Tameifuna 51), 4 Boris Palu (C Cazeaux 51), 5 Adam Coleman, 6 Pierre Bochaton (B Vergnes-Taillefer 67), 7 Cameron Woki, 8 Marko Gazzotti (T Matiu 51).
Replacements not used: Hugo Reus.
Bath: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Henry Arundell, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Will Muir (T de Glanville 65), 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain) (T Carr-Smith 75), 1 Beno Obano (F van Wyk 53), 2 Tom Dunn (K Tuipulotu 44), 3 Thomas du Toit (B Sela 73), 4 Quinn Roux (T Hill 53), 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper (S Underhill 53), 8 Alfie Barbeary (M Reid 53).
Player of the Match: Maxime Lucu (Bordeaux).
Venue: Stade Atlantique Bordeaux Métropole. Attendance: 42,000 (sold out).
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia). Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Eoghan Cross (Ireland). TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales).
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