Meeting for the first time in the clubs’ history, Union Bordeaux-Begles beat Munster Rugby 47-29 to advance to the 2025 Investec Champions Cup semi-final.
As is normal for the Munster men on a Champions Cup away day, their colony of fans spurred them into a fast start. A fast start but certainly brief. It took just five minutes for the hosts to put their foot down and turn things around for the tie’s first score.
Fed out from the back of the scrum and swiftly shifted to the openside via a pinpoint Jalibert punt, there was a certain Damian Penaud pounding down the wing to meet its path. Crossing for his record 12th of this campaign, the Frenchman might have added another to his collection down the opposite flank just minutes later.
Eventually taken down just metres from the in-goal, Lucu was lying in wait to mop up the loose ball and bundle it home - a commanding lead after a quarter of an hour.
And things only got better for UBB. Back Jon Echegaray picked up the ball on the right flank and danced through countless Munster defenders before offloading to Pete Samu, who gratefully swanned off the move, adding a third before the 30-minute mark.
Five minutes had passed since UBB’s last score - clearly too long for the French side’s liking. When a pass found its way into Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s hands on the blindside and his nifty feet had two Munster men on the floor, a fourth seemed inevitable. It was over to Echegaray to eventually finish it off, though as UBB closed in on 30.
Spurred on by the deficit, Munster showed their true colours late on in the first half. A wriggling Alex Nankivell slapped the ball home before a Jack Crowley conversion gave the Irish a necessary breath of life.
Munster’s late first-half score had clearly given them necessary wind in their sails as the sides returned for the restart.
Having stemmed their bleeds at the back, Munster gradually grew into the UBB half. Controlling the scrums and putting together promising attacking phases, it wasn’t long before that famous Munster grit came through - Andrew Smith won a sprint down the left to go down and edge the visitors ever closer.
But this did anything but ease any UBB threats going forward. And if their first-half scores had showcased their frightening pace down both flanks, Maxime Lomothe edged home a monstrous maul to boast the Bordelais’ brute force on offer.
Up for the fight-back, the baguette-wielding Munster fans were soon given a slither of hope 13 minutes from time in the form of a penalty try to bring them to within 20.
The away fans were out of their seat once more five minutes later when Smith grabbed another down the opposite wing.
But it was when UBB briefly went down to 13 men that UBB eyebrows were starting to be raised. With Echegaray in the sin bin, Cyril Cazeaux’s red for a high tackle gave Munster that extra taste of a comeback.
However, wary of the dangers of a spirited Munster in the final stages, UBB’s Bielle-Biarrey exploited a gap on the break and went to the races to put a comfortable distance between the two once more.
Scorers:
Union Bordeaux-Begles: Tries: Damian Penaud, Maxime Lucu, Pete Samu, Jon Echegaray, Maxime Lamothe, Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Conversions: Matthieu Jalibert (3), Maxime Lucu. Penalties: Matthieu Jalibert (3).
Munster: Tries: Alex Nankivell, Penalty try, Andrew Smith (2). Conversions: Jack Crowley (2).
Teams:
Union Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Jon Echegaray, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Yoram Moefana, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (c), 8 Pete Samu, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot. Replacements: 16 Connor Sa, 17 Matis Perchaud, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Pierre Bochaton, 20 Marko Gazzotti, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Yann Lesgourgues, 23 Pablo Uberti.
Munster Rugby: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley. Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Mark Donnelly, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Tom Ahern, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Alex Kendellen.