Bath beaten by Bordeaux in pulsating Champions Cup semi-final
At the sold-out 42,000-seater Stade Atlantique Bordeaux Metropole, the Champions Cup holders delivered a blistering first half with tries for Marko Gazzotti, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Maxime Lucu. Prem champions Bath were always underdogs but went blow for blow for the opening half hour, wing Will Muir twice getting on the scoresheet. In a game of international quality the key match-ups were everywhere - Bielle-Biarrey v Henry Arundell, Matthieu Jalibert v Finn Russell - but it was young centre Louie Hennessey who got Bath's third try at the beginning of the second half.
From there Bordeaux took over, with 23 stone-plus substitute Ben Tameifuna powering over to exert control on the scoreboard and Temo Matiu putting the result beyond the Prem side, despite Tom Carr-Smith's late consolation. Bath's wait for another trophy in this competition will stretch to 29 years, while reigning champions Bordeaux earn the chance to go back-to-back against Leinster in three weeks' time. A French team has won the Champions Cup in each of the past five years, with Bordeaux now getting the chance to make it six Bath will have craved a steady start but delivered anything but.
Alfie Barbeary - one of five Champions Cup player of the year contenders - failed to catch the kick-off and within two minutes Damian Penaud made a searing outside break and Gazzotti barrelled over. Two superb kicks helped Bath get on to the scoreboard, as Russell's cross-field gained territory and Ben Spencer's chip to the wing found an unmarked Muir over the tryline. Roared on by the home crowd Bordeaux came again, kicking to the corner and then spreading the ball to the other wing for Bielle-Biarrey to dive in unopposed.
Bath, though, had plenty of practice facing unstructured chaos in their superb quarter-final against Northampton, and stayed in the fight with a Hennessey break from midfield. Bordeaux lock Adam Coleman may well have been carded for a high shot on Barbeary on another day, but the television match official saw no clear head contact. The English side did not have to wait too long for another boost though, Arundell drawing defenders to allow Muir to blast through Maxime Lucu's tackle and produce a superb diving finish in the corner.
Muir proved too strong for Lucu's tackle in the first half, followed by his excellent dive to dot the ball down in the corner Lucu soon found a response to Muir's second try, as a knock-on in Bath's half gifted his side the ball and it was shunted through the hands until the scrum-half was able to dart under the posts on 34 minutes. Lucu kicked a penalty for a 24-12 half-time lead, with the relentless pace clearly affecting the visiting players. Johann van Graan's side found plenty of endeavour after the break though, a series of punishing forward drives taking them to the tryline and Hennessey capitalising on the space to stretch his arm over.