Damian Penaud’s try at the hour mark against Stade Rochelais was already pretty crazy in itself. While UBB was in the lead (29-7), Matthieu Jalibert kicked a very long ball to put pressure on the Maritimes. The ball went beyond the La Rochelle goal line and did not go any further. Altruistic, the Bordeaux winger Damian Penaud rushes on to flatten it by diving in front of Grégory Alldritt who did not feel his teammate in the French team coming at full speed towards him.
The try is scored, Chaban-Delmas becomes angry, and Alldritt is disappointed. Even worse for him, Matthieu Jalibert, in the euphoria of this rather crazy test, comes to rely on the La Rochelle number 8 before congratulating Damian Penaud. A little pat on the head from Jalibert on his captain in the French team, which annoyed Alldritt, who let him know. A chambering which the opener of the XV of France could in fact have done without.
“Greg, he’s a player I respect”
At the end of the match, which saw Bordeaux-Bègles win 34-14, Matthieu Jalibert explained his action on Canal +: “I just leaned on Greg. These are things you shouldn’t do, I apologized to Greg afterwards. I was a little caught up in my momentum and the euphoria. Greg is a player that I respect and on this occasion, it was something not to do,” he wanted to clarify.
Thanks to this success, UBB has a third victory and remains in third place in the Top 14 ranking with 63 points ahead of Toulon (59 points). Ahead, a duel at the top awaits Stade Français, first, opposed on Sunday to Stade Toulouse, second just two points behind the Parisians (9:05 p.m.).
