The Bordeaux-Bègles Union is going through a strange season. On alternating current for many months, the Bordelais delivered a new two-faced performance this Saturday, in the quarter-final of the Champions Cup against Harlequins. Largely dominated in the first half, visibly overwhelmed by the heat, Yannick Bru’s men thought they would overturn the match in the second half, but ultimately lost. Maxime Lucu had the winning conversion at the end of the foot, but the scrum half missed in the 76th minute (41-42).
The first half, however, was catastrophic. Surprisingly feverish defensively, the Bordelais conceded a first try in the third minute via Will Porter. After a nice breakthrough along the line from André Esterhuizen, the scrum-half quietly gave his team a seven-point advantage. A lead which doubled a few minutes later when Mateo Garcia was guilty of a voluntary forward while the English were heading towards an unstoppable try (14-0).
The Bordeaux-Bègles Union then took on water. Affected by the oppressive heat at the Chaban-Delmas stadium, Maxime Lucu’s teammates took advantage of a little cool break under umbrellas to clear their heads. An excellent idea since the scrum half opened the Bordeaux counter in the 20th by slipping away after a big strike from Tameifuna.
An impressive start to the second period
Five minutes later, Romain Buros gave his teammates a little more hope by flattening the ball into the Harlequins in-goal. But this first half was still dominated by the English, who piled up two new tries, by Will Porter and Will Evans, giving themselves an advantage of 16 points when returning to the locker room (12-28).
The second period was completely crazy. Much more determined than at the start of the match, the Bordelais came back with better intentions and were rewarded immediately, with a try scored by Nicolas Depoortere in the corner. It could even have been followed by a goal from Yann Lesgourgues, but the flyhalf was turned into the goal.
The last half hour was stifling, almost unreal. Alex Dombrandt first gave Harlequins some breathing room (57th), before Louis Bielle-Biarrey restarted the match once again (60th). Definitely twirling, the winger attempted a little kick over the top which was recovered by Madosh Tambwe, who scored his first try of the match to give the Bordelais the advantage for the first time of the afternoon (65th) .
The victory kick
However, it was far from over. After being saved by the referee, who canceled a try from Sam Riley (69th), Yannick Bru’s players collapsed in the 72nd, overwhelmed by the speed of the untenable Tyrone Green, elected man of the match. With six points behind, Maxime Lucu and his team no longer had a choice, they had to score a converted try.
Half-successful mission. Unstoppable in the Quins defense, Madosh Tambwe scored the try for hope in the 76th minute. Aware that the transformation was essential, the Bordeaux winger even made the effort to get closer to the posts. Maxime Lucu, however, did not take advantage of it, and missed his kick by a few centimeters. Cruel disillusionment for the Union Bordeaux-Bègles, which saw its European adventure end in the quarter-final.
