Pool 4: Bristol 15-27 Bordeaux
Bielle-Biarrey lights up match to secure top spot
The odds on Bordeaux-Bègles successfully defending their Champions Cup crown shortened considerably on a damp, grey Sunday lunchtime in Bristol. Good sides can adapt their game to suit awkward conditions and, for the second weekend in a row, French class outflanked English energy and optimism with a hat-trick of tries from the spectacularly prolific French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
The Bears, seeking to play billionaire rugby on a day crying out for more prudent housekeeping, made far too many unforced errors and duly paid the price against opponents who are now perfectly placed in this year’s tournament. They will have the luxury of playing all their subsequent knockout games either on French soil or, if they reach the final, just across the Spanish border in Bilbao and at this rate it will require something special to prevent them claiming back-to-back titles.
Even when their side are not quite at their best the sparkling Bielle-Biarrey, along with the artful Matthieu Jalibert, give Bordeaux crucial extra stardust. On this occasion, with Bristol trailing by only five points entering the closing moments, it was Bielle-Biarrey who applied the crucial bonus-point dagger, outsprinting everyone to slither over for the game’s clinching score.
