Exeter v Bordeaux: Five takeaways as ‘sublime’ French contingent boost Six Nations chances with ‘indulgent’ victory
Damian Penaud and Matthieu Jalibert in action for Bordeaux
Following Bordeaux Begles’ 69-17 win over Exeter Chiefs in the Investec Champions Cup, here are our five key takeaways from Sandy Park.
The top line
The game began at breakneck speed, with three tries in the opening 15 minutes. Exeter stuck first with a sensational 95-metre interception from Paul Brown-Bampoe – who has spent a good chunk of the season on loan at National One side Plymouth Albion – but the visitors dug their claws in with two scores from Maxime Lucu and Damian Penaud.
Bordeaux really began to show their class as the half went on, adding two more scores to their tally through Lucu and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
Not content with four first-half tries, Bordeaux grabbed their fifth on the stroke of half-time as Maxime Lamothe crossed from the base of a maul.
The scoring continued in the second-half, as Penaud reaped the rewards of a fabulous kick-chase from Bielle-Biarrey to score.
For all of Bordeaux’s brilliance, Exeter added a second score through Brown-Bampoe, as he powered his way through the defence to score.
It proved to be mere consolation, as Bordeaux crossed four more times through Bielle-Biarrey, Lamothe, Cyril Cazeaux and Matthieu Jalibert to simply kill the game off.
Ben Hamersley added a third for the Chiefs just moments after Toma Taufa was shown a red card, but that proved to be one final moment of joy as Bordeaux added three more tries for good measure.
This win continues Bordeaux’s 100% start to the Champions Cup campaign, as they continue to push for the title.
The game in numbers
Bordeaux’s attacking performance was simply wonderful at times, and this is reflected in the stats.
Across the full 80, they made a whopping 9 line breaks, with the electric Penaud leading the way with three of his own. The backline was incredibly busy too, with Lucu, Penaud and Rohan Janse van Rensburg notching a solid 10 carries ball-in-hand. Jalibert and Bielle-Biarrey weren’t too far behind either, making nine apiece.
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Penaud was once again the star of the show in the metres charts, with a mammoth 172 to his name. Lucu was also able to make some serious metres too, notching 101 in his shift.
Just seriously impressive attacking stats from the French outfit.
Bordeaux title contenders?
The Champions Cup is filled with seriously talented teams, but today Bordeaux showed they will likely be right in the mix come the end of the tournament.
From minute one, Bordeaux just put their foot on Exeter’s throat and simply dominated the game. They brought heaps of physicality to proceedings, with some serious smash-and-bash from the pack, but this was also complimented with some dazzling work from the backs.
Bordeaux looked the real deal tonight as they waltzed to a win, and the ease of the victory should send serious alarm bells ringing across Europe now.
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Bordeaux are littered with talent across the park, but it was their French internationals who really stood out in the win.
There is a lot of talk around a certain other French scrum-half at the minute, but Bordeaux’s Lucu gave us – and Fabien Galthie – a reminder of his true class with a sublime performance at Sandy Park.
Lucu was simply magical for most of the game, and was right at the heart of Bordeaux’s impressive performance. He was able to slice through the Exeter defence at will, and crucially combined that with expert guidance around the park and a deadly partnership with Jalibert. To round off a brilliant display, he nabbed himself two tries and an assist.
Jalibert has endured a rollercoaster in recent months, but today was a sign of what he can do when afforded that freedom he craves. He just grew and grew as the game went on, and became increasingly influential as the game went by; and added the cherry on top with a nice try and seven conversions.
Around that, centre Yoram Moefana was running with genuine intent and anger through heavy traffic, which played a crucial role in his side getting the upper hand. Penaud showed his true poacher’s touch as he grabbed himself a hat-trick and was just in stunning attacking touch. Bielle-Biarrey was also dazzling upon his entry, notching a brace.
They all certainly deserve some individual praise for their efforts, but it was also the way they worked as a unit that should alert Galthie. They just played indulgent, decadent rugby to get around the Exeter defence with ease. You would expect these combinations could transfer wonderfully into the Blue jersey later this month if called upon.
Whilst the French contingent all gave their Six Nations chances a massive boost, Romain Burros is now a major doubt for the Championship as he was withdrawn early into the first-half.
Second-class Chiefs
They tried, they really did, but Exeter were simply torn apart by a merciless Bordeaux side and it shows just where they are at the moment.
When the Chiefs strung some phases together, they actually looked a bit of a threat, but they just made FAR too many errors to be a genuinely competitive opposition to the French side at Sandy Park. Take the lineout as a prime example of this too, as they fired at a measly 50% success rate across the 80 minutes.
Exeter also managed to make some decent in-roads through the Bordeaux defence, but just as they looked to deliver that killer blow the final pass would either fall to floor, get knocked on or be latched on by a purple striped jersey; and that was the difference between the sides at the end of the day.
The attacking errors were fairly sloppy, but it was their lapses in defence that should seriously worry the coaching group. Too many times, the likes of Lucu, Jalibert, Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey were able to cut through and charge towards the try-line, to the point where you almost expected it when they touched the ball. Missed tackles has been a theme for much of this season, and it reared it’s ugly head again today as they came up with a staggering 45. To put it bluntly, that is not good enough at the top level.
You again start to wonder just where Exeter go from here, with this being the club’s biggest-ever home defeat.