by Bordeaux 45 Saracens 12
The last dance will be confined to the home stage for Saracens after they were dismissed by Bordeaux-Bègles to set up a Champions Cup quarter-final against Harlequins at Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Although Mark McCall’s men gritted their teeth and defended proudly for the first half hour, they lacked an intoxicating blend of power, pace and attacking flair. As the hosts cut loose in the final 20 minutes, with a pair of devastating wings in Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud constantly threatening, two pressing questions came to mind: who can stop Bordeaux and for how long it will take Saracens to challenge this. competition again?
With Owen Farrell and the Vunipola brothers set to move on, McCall faces the end of an era and a significant rebuild. Bordeaux, meanwhile, is on top. Matéo Garcia, the 21-year-old midfielder who grabbed a brace of tries as a stand-in for Matthieu Jalibert, said as much.
Saracens were insipid at this venue in January in a 55-15 battering. Bordeaux lost another big score against them this season. Even if it wasn’t so obvious here, Jamie George admitted that Saracens “picked up the fight” in the second half. That’s a scary assessment.
Bordeaux does not yet have a collective experience of high-stakes events. George seemed to be playing on this, keeping his teammates together in a jam before the start. When the action started, there was a nervous tension from Tevita Tatafu in the backfield.
Bordeaux came back, and almost scored within five minutes when Bielle-Biarrey skated in after Maxime Lucu’s kick and just hit the touchline. A second near miss followed. Lucu managed to recover his chip with some powerful work to break down the chase but spilled Ben Tameifuna as he tried to bulldoze through Elliot Daly.
The attack was terrifying. Bielle-Biarrey hit Daly on the outside with a dropped puck, but the move was called back for a pass from Penaud that was deemed to have gone forward. Saracens escaped again. Then, at the end of a one-sided first quarter that somehow remained scoreless, Alex Lewington cut 50:22. With that field position, Alex Goode’s delicate grubber almost scored.
Moments later, Bordeaux had a third attempt ruled out by a midfield obstruction. They came back for a penalty and Mako Vunipola forced a turnover with a tight tackle. Saracens continued to hold out, and to their credit Lucu opted to kick a penalty to register Bordeaux’s first points in the 30th minute.
Nicolas Depoortère pounced on the fourth attempt which was disallowed, although this one had a clear knock on that was always recognisable. Five minutes before half-time, a slap-down from the returning Maro Itoje caused a possible line break. Frank Murphy was booked and, despite Theo McFarland almost getting over the line afterwards, a Romain Buros boost allowed Garcia to slide over.
Lucu converted the lead, giving Bordeaux a 10-0 advantage going into half-time. To say that their dominance was deserved would be a huge understatement. Saracens had attempted 133 tackles in 40 minutes, Bordeaux 100 less precisely. But they were in touch, straight, and Mark McCall’s bench, which includes Theo Dan, Juan Martín González and Tom Willis, could give them a shot if Itoje’s sin bin didn’t do any more damage. That was the theory.
Nick Tompkins stepped in as always, with a turnover to start the second period. From another penalty in quick succession, 45 meters out, Goode, for an injured Farrell, hit the post. Nobody could say that Bordeaux didn’t deserve the luck, and Garcia had a brace when Tatafu’s flicked offload went back to him from Ben Earl.
At 17-0 behind, any prospect of a comeback was bleak. Dan disrupted the dynamism, however, and Lewington might have snuck into the corner if he had a looping pass from Goode. On the hour mark, Bordeaux put an end to any remaining doubt with an all-too-easy third try. Directly from a scrum, Garcia took advantage and fed Penaud, who went through before Depoortère was released.
Bielle-Biarrey slipped onto the scoreboard after a lucky ruck before Depoortère’s second finished off a brilliant close-range move. Lewington and Tom Willis, against his old side, got Saracens on the board, but Bielle-Biarrey’s second came between those two. Goode delayed his final conversion for the clock to tick to 80 minutes, which said it all. McCall’s charges now have a week to heal their wounds before Premier League action – and their quest to promote loyal servants – resumes.
Data matching
Scoring: 3-0 Lucu penalty, 8-0 Garcia try, 10-0 Lucu conversion, 15-0 Garcia try, 17-0 Lucu conversion, 22-0 Depoortère try, 24-0 Lucu conversion, 29-0 Bielle-Biarrey try, Lucu 31-0 conversion, 36-0 Depoortère try, 38-0 Garcia conversion, 38-5 Lewington try, 43-5 Bielle-Biarrey try, 45-5 Garcia conversion, 45-10 Willis try, 45-12 Goode conversion
Bordeaux-Bègles: R Buros; D Penaud, N Depoortère (P Uberti, 73), Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; M Garcia, M Lucu; J Poirot (L Kaulashvili, 51), M Lamonthe (R Latterrade, 59), B Tameifuna (C Sadie, 54), C Cazeaux (T Jolmes, 65), A Coleman (K Douglas, 56), A Miquel, P Samu , T Tatafu (G Petti, 61)
Saracens: E Daly (M Vunipola, 68); S Maitland (O Hartley, 66), L Cinti, N Tompkins, A Lewington; A Goode, I van Zyl (G Simpson, 57); M Vunipola (E Mawi, 51), J George (T Dan, 51), C Judge (M Riccioni, 51), M Itoje, H Tizard (González, 51), T McFarland, B Earl, B Vunipola (T Willis, 61)
Referee: F Ó Murchú
yellow card: Eat 35
