Union Bordeaux-Bègles bulldozed past Saints for their first Champions Cup Trophy on Saturday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
While the Principality Stadium's roof was firmly shut, the traps were wide open for a quick-fire Northampton Saints start. Not even two minutes were on the clock before the Saints broke through, as they pinned UBB deep inside their own 22 before Alex Coles bundled it over for the opener.
The English side’s early joy ended up being short-lived, though. Both James Ramm and George Furbank were forced off through injury within five minutes.
The pause in proceedings seemed to do little to affect UBB’s momentum as some magical Maxime Lucu-Matthieu Jalibert's hands opened up space on the right for Damian Penaud to breeze home for number 13 of the season.
Partner-in-crime Louis Bielle-Biarrey thought he’d got in on the act soon after, but the TMO came to Saints’ rescue at a time when they needed it most.
But the UBB onslaught showed no signs of letting up. Everything Jalibert touched seemed to turn to gold as he wriggled past countless numbers of the Saints’ backline to see Adam Coleman free to swoop in for number three.
Another Penaud cross seemed to undo Fin Smith's impressive kicking to bring Saints closer on the scoreboard, but the English side ended the half just as they started it when Coles went over for number two late on.
HT: Northampton Saints 20-20 Union Bordeaux-Bègles
Saints charged out for the restart with just as much gusto as they had for the first, and they thought they had a just reward. Henry Pollock powered down the wing to touch down, but it was soon ruled out by the TMO.
That appeared to be the wake-up call UBB needed as they slowly worked their way back into the match. It was second row Cyril Cazeaux who ended the second half try drought when he forced his way through from close range.
While the first half was a lesson in attack, the second brought the best out in the sides’ defence, with little getting through the backlines.
Even though some tired legs seemed to open more gaps, some resolute UBB defensive work propped up a solid final 20 minutes from the French side. As full-time drew closer and inspired by the rapturous French fans, UBB saw out a historic afternoon in Cardiff.
A first for UBB, the ‘Bordelais’ have done their bit in keeping the Champions Cup in France. The fifth consecutive win by a French side, the trophy has found its home on the other side of the Channel.
Scorers:
Northampton Saints: Tries: Alex Coles (2). Conversions: Fin Smith (2). Penalties: Fin Smith.
Union Bordeaux-Bègles: Tries: Damian Penaud (2), Adam Coleman, Cyril Cazeaux. Conversions: Matthieu Jalibert. Penalties: Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu.
Teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Josh Kemeny, 6 Alex Coles, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun. Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Tom James, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.
Union Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 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 Sipili Falatea, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot. Replacements: 16 Connor Sa, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Pierre Bochaton, 20 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 21 Marko Gazzotti, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg.
