Bordeaux blitz Munster early on to end Champions Cup dream
Jack Crowley of Munster is tackled by Yoram Moefana of Bordeaux Begles. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Munster’s Champions Cup adventure ended on Saturday as a devastating first half from Bordeaux-Bégles ensured Munster were always chasing a lost cause in this quarter-final clash at Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Munster showed their intent from the get-go with Gavin Coombes and Tom Farrell breaking down the left in the 2nd minute only for Andrew Smith to knock on.
Bordeaux made no mistake with their first attack as a gorgeous kick-through from Matthieu Jalibert unlocked Munster and the flying French winger Damian Penaud was on hand to dive on the ball to score in the 6th minute.
In the ninth minute, Munster got themselves on the board with a Jack Crowley penalty, but Jalibert did likewise down the other end immediately.
The home side struck again after 13 minutes after a Munster lineout had misfired. Penaud was put clear on the left and while his kick was blocked, a follow-up hack through by Guido Petti ended up over the Munster tryline and Maxime Lucu reacted first to dot down, for what was a messy and costly try from a Munster perspective.
Bordeaux looked on the verge of scoring in the 21st minute but Louis Bielle-Biarrey was hauled down and soon after a trademark Tadhg Beirne jackal rescued them on their own line.
The reprieve was a brief one, however, as Bordeaux’s relentless attacking play ran Munster ragged with the big number eight Pete Samu being on hand to collect Jon Echegaray’s pass to dive over.
Munster’s lineout completely malfunctioned in that first half and giving ball straight back to a side of this calibre meant Munster had little chance.
Jalibert missed an easy penalty attempt in the 30th minute but four minutes later they crossed again when Bielle-Biarrey popped to Echegaray to crash over to give the scoreline a horrible reflection.
Munster fought their way up almost the full length of the pitch thanks to a number of Bordeaux penalty concessions, and Alex Nankivell crashed over from close range with the last play to make it 29-10 at half-time.
Bordeaux second-row Cyril Cazeaux was sin-binned in the 46th minute but the lineout had gotten so bad that Munster did not seem to know who they were throwing to, and any chance of a comeback went with each lost restart.
Smith then scored a try out of nothing in the 51st minute when he kicked up the touchline and had the pace to regather and score to bring Munster within two scores, although Jalibert quickly rectified that with a penalty.
Tom Ahern was yellow-carded in the 55th minute, with the Bordeaux maul rumbling over with Maxime Lamothe reaching the whitewash.
An Alex Kendellen yellow was soon followed by a 66th-minute Jalibert penalty and Echegaray followed him to the bin for a deliberate knock-on as the ref awarded the penalty try.
Smith scored again in the right corner in the 73rd minute after a brilliant kick-through by Crowley and Cazeaux was red-carded soon after to give a glimmer of hope but Bielle-Biarrey killed it with a late try.
M Jalibert (3 pens, 3 cons), M Lucu (1 try, 1 con), D Penaud, P Samu, J Echegaray, M Lamothe, L Bielle-Biarrey (1 try each).
J Crowley (1 pen, 2 cons), A Smith (2 tries), A Nankivell (1 try), Penalty try.
J Echegaray; D Penaud, Y Moefana, R Janse van Rensburg, L Bielle-Biarrey; M Jalibert, M Lucu (capt); J Poirot, M Lamothe, B Tameifuna; A Coleman, C Cazeaux; M Diaby, G Petti, P Samu.
M Gazzotti for M Diaby (47), M Perchaud and S Falatea for J Poirot and B Tameifuna (54), P Uberti for R Janse van Rensburg (55), Pierre Bochaton, B Vergnes-Taillefer for P Samu (59), C Sa for M Lamothe (67), Yann Lesgourgues.
T Abrahams; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, A Smith; J Crowley, C Casey; J Wycherley, D Barron, O Jager; J Kleyn, T Beirne (c); P O'Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
N Scannell for D Barron (38), S Archer and T Ahern for O Jager and P O’Mahony (49), F Wycherley and S O’Brien for J Kleyn and C Nash (57), A Kendellen for G Coombes (63), C Murray for C Casey (66), M Donnelly for J Wycherley (72).
Nike Amashukeli (GEO).
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