Key events
Robert Kitson’s report has landed:
Thanks for reading, congratulations to Bordeaux, commiserations to Bath. Bring on the final.
Rob Kitson’s match report from Bordeaux
“So proud of these lads,” says the Bath scrum-half Spencer. “How far we’ve come since Johann came.
“I thought we put up a real good fight. There were a few key moments that went their way. But ultimately it was a step too far.
“At half time there was still huge belief. We thought we could get on top of them … We let them out and they went down the other end and scored. It’s tough to come back against them when you’re up against it. Credit to Bordeaux, but hugely proud of the lads.
“It’s obviously a great experience for these young guys … we’ll take the learnings out of this game, still loads to play for in the Prem. Regather back on Wednesday and look forward to the rest of the season.
“They’re a great side – but I’m hugely proud of our group.”
“Appreciate you, Martin,” says Obano to Bayfield at the end of that excellent, honest interview.
Bet you he watches the NFL.
“It’s a sad feeling … but there were opportunities we didn’t take,” says Beno Obano of Bath. “I don’t know if we can take solace in that, but it’s kind of on us. We can get better. It’s a matter of taking those moments. We didn’t take them today. We have to look at ourselves. There’s a lot we can do better, if I am honest.
“We are close. We believe in each other. We trust in each other. It’s a matter of being honest with ourselves … and making sure we don’t make those same mistakes in big games.
“They attack really well. They move the ball really well. If you get caught too narrow they exploit it … that’s what they did exceptionally well … you can’t make mistakes in these big games. You can’t make errors. Good teams like that exploit that.
“We didn’t really feel pressure. We wanted to be the best version of ourselves, and we were at times … but the times we weren’t, we were punished.”
“It’s incredible,” says try-scoring prop Ben Tameifuna. “We’ve had a great season in the Champions Cup. We are just fortunate to have the game here in our back yard. The crowd was amazing, big up to them.
“Conditions weren’t the best today. It was about keeping the ball and building phases and apply pressure. We just happened to get the bounce of that, and a few calls our way.
“We’re not done yet. We’ve got another big game to come.
“They’ve got class players. They didn’t give up. They still wanted to have a crack. Credit to them and best of luck for the rest of their season …
“Leinster are a top side. Just like Bath. It’s going to be a good one … It’s going to be who can hold the ball the longest and build pressure.”
“We are gutted,” says Finn Russell. “We went behind, fought ourselves back in the second half, and didn’t take our chances and gave them soft entries into our 22 … at this level, you give soft penalties away and make silly mistakes, you get punished.
“We’ll be better for this … there is a lot of frustration and disappointment … but when we come back in tomorrow we’ll look at it, and how we get ready for Exeter next weekend.”
And perhaps it’s a little harsh to say Bath over-committed in defence – the problem with playing Bordeaux is that they have so many powerful carriers and their handling is so sharp, you need a lot of manpower to stop them, which in turn can leave you short out wide.
“You have to get the little bits and pieces right,” says Lawrence Dallaglio on commentary for Premier Sports. “The further up the tree you go, you have to do the simple things over and over again, correctly. Bordeaux were better than that at Bath today and that’s why they won.”
Full-time: Bordeaux 38-26 Bath
C’est comme ça.
Try! Bordeaux 38-26 Bath (Carr-Smith)
A chip-chase by Arundell on the Bath left culminates in a try for the replacement Tom Carr-Smith. But Bordeaux had switched off, to all intents and purposes. Arundell needed to be making that kind of impact when the pressure was on. Extras are added.
80 min: Time up. Lucu orchestrates the celebrations. Bath have the ball and Russell finds Lawrence. Bath are just looking for a consolation.
79 min: Bordeaux come again. The fans want more. But a forward pass that’s also at someone’s boots brings their latest attack to an end.
Try! 77 min: Bordeaux 38-19 Bath (Matiu)
Bath are ragged and when Jalibert loops a handsome pass to the left wing, it’s the replacement back-row Temo Matiu who eventually charges over.
Les jeux sont faits.
77 min: The home fans are in full voice. Their heroes have the ball. They attack down the right wing … and there is the finisher!
76 min: Lucu gets player of the match. Have Bath been hard done by with the officiating? Maybe, but they’ve also made some basic errors and over-committed themselves in defence at times, making it all too easy for UBB to pick them off.
75 min: Charge down by Moefana! Inside the Bath 22! It looks like he’s in for the try but the ball escapes him. Then Bordeaux are penalised for playing the No 9.
74 min: Billy Sela is on for Bath. Arundell claims a high kick and does well to cling on and get the ball to a teammate …
72 min: That fluffed lineout by Ewels feels like it was a turning point. And now he’s in the bin. Bath have the ball and try to shove a maul towards the try-line. Du Toit is involved. Then Lawrence. UBB continue to throw themselves into contact with abandon. And now they get a penalty.
Try! 69 min: Bordeaux 31-19 Bath (Tameifuna)
Big man. Big try. Big all round from the tap penalty. Bordeaux finally get their try, from the enormous prop who always seems to make a devastating impact. Two more points added by Lucu with the conversion.
Is the game gone? It looks gone. But stranger things have happened …
Yellow card for Bath! (Ewels)
No try, but Amashukeli thinks Ewels has been a naughty boy in dragging down the driving maul that had looked sure to make it over the line. And he’s off to the sin-bin.
68 min: I think this is a knock-on.
There is a lengthy check, and the TMO doesn’t sound sure …
“Give me two seconds,” says Ben Whitehouse. The crowd wails. They want a try.
But no! It’s no try!
Disallowed try! 66 min: Bordeaux 24-19 Bath (Barlot)
Woki nabs a lineout and then it’s a fearsomely powerful shove from the French club’s pack. It’s dragged down but the referee plays advantage and the replacement Gaetan Barlot is over for the score. Or is he? The TMO will check the grounding …
66 min: Now a platform for Bordeaux with a lineout. Woki nearly powers past the cover on the right touchline. He offloads inside and Ewels eventually gets the ball and is driven into touch. Looks like Muir is injured, he’s holding his arm, say the commentators. It was a very heavy blow he took in taking Woki down. Tom de Glanville is on for Bath.
64 min: Ewels spills the lineout from Tuipulotu’s throw! UBB snaffle the bouncing ball! That is a terrible waste of a massive attacking platform. Retiere is first to the loose ball and Bordeaux are delighted to be off the hook.
63 min: Arthur Retiere is also on for Bordeaux, immediately getting involved in a break down their right wing. The ball is worked nearly under the Bath posts due to another run by Jalibert. Bath get a penalty, Spencer grabs the ball and hammers it downfield. Rayasi scuffs it into touch under pressure from Muir in the UBB 22! Huge territory gain for Bath!
62 min: A very handy maul turnover for Bath, by Josh Bayliss. This is good stuff. Now a scrum for Bordeaux on halfway.
60 min: Given the strength of their bench, would Bath have taken a five-point game after an hour? I fancy they would. They can win this, but they need to keep it clean in the referee’s eyes and defend more efficiently than they have so far.
57 min: Bath turn it over under lots of pressure near their own line. The ball is booted downfield, and Arundell and Bielle-Biarrey, momentarily, are in a foot race with no one at home for Bordeaux in the back field. But sadly the ball squirts out into touch and a ceasefire is declared between the two fast men.
56 min: So new back rowers for Bath. Jalibert sprints through a gaping hole. He’s tackled but then it’s brought back for a penalty, I think from the newly-introduced Reid, for in at the side.
53 min: Ben Tameifuna, Cyril Cazeaux, Temo Matiu are all on for UBB.
And Bath changes too: Hill, Underhill, Reid, Van Wyk on. Barbeary, Roux, Pepper off, plus Obano.
52 min: “In an imperfect tournament the selection of semi final venues would seem to be the biggest flaw,” emails Andrew Moore. “Can’t be beyond the wit of man to reserve the main 6 Nations Test arenas for the semi finals and allocate neutral venues once the participants are known.”
Ben Tameifuna is on, I think, let me check …
Try! 50 min: Bordeaux 24-19 Bath (Hennessey)
Penalty Bath. No yellow card is forthcoming despite some persistent infringements. They run through the phases again. Du Toit is among those to have a bash from close range. There is a pile of bodies on the line … Bath spin it wide, finally, and Hennessy applies a jinking score! He had men outside him, and that looked the obvious play, but he would not be denied and finished in style. He celebrates in style too. Russell converts. Game on!
48 min: Many, many attacking phases for Bath in the Bordeaux 22 … Arundell gets it on the wing again, loops around inside, and is double-tackled by Jalibert and AN Other. Then Russell feeds it wide, Carreras spills the ball with the try-line at his mercy! Carreras wants a high tackle, holding his face after a challenge by Rayasi, but the officials aren’t having it.
47 min: Attacking phases for Bath. Arundell takes a pass on the right wing and looks to cut inside but he struggles to make a meaningful impact, which seems the story of his afternoon up to this point. UBB’s work-rate in defence stays high. If Bath can get a try here it’s really game on but their opponents are repelling them effectively at the moment.
45 min: Bordeaux attack down the left wing. Bielle-Biarrey tries to offload inside but it’s straight to Carreras and Bath can breath again. Kepu Tuipulotu is on at hooker for Bath, Tom Dunn off.
42 min: Barbeary runs it down the middle … He bashes through Lucu, looking to go route one, but is then dragged down. Bordeaux soon manage to clear, but it looked like a head-on-head tackle from Lucu. Barbeary is hurt, and has a visible bash on his cheek, but it seems the TMO isn’t interested in having a look. Are they worried about being stormed by angry French fans in the TMO nerve centre?
Second-half kick-off!
Allez! A knock-on by Lucu immediately hands Bath an attacking scrum inside the UBB 22!
Half-time reading:
Penalty and half time! Bordeaux 24-12 Bath (Lucu)
Lucu slots the penalty and Bath are going to need something big in the second half to overturn a 12-point deficit.
As I mentioned at the top, the Bath v Northampton quarter-final was entertaining, but the defending was questionable and Bath have been exposed repeatedly during that first half. They’ve also made some basic errors – but that shows the pressure they are under in every facet of the game.
On the plus side Bath have caused plenty of problems for Bordeaux in attack – and Muir has scored two excellent tries. But if the game continues in this vein there is no way Bath are outscoring Bordeaux in the second 40.
39 min: A knock-on by Barbeary now, from a poor pass by Spencer, from a messy lineout via Charlie Ewels. A scrum for Bordeaux just outside the Bath 22, yet again. UBB smash up the middle, or rather ghost up the middle via Penaud initially. Guy Pepper is penalised and Lucu will kick.
“Bath have got to be better defensively,” says Dallaglio. “You’ve got to stay square, once the ball’s gone past you, then you push off … you can’t afford to rush up, turn your shoulders out, and then the likes of Lucu and Jalibert are stepping you on the inside. That is just bread and butter defence.”
Try! 35 min: Bordeaux 21-12 Bath (Lucu)
What a stunning score. Jalibert runs the ball after the scrum and feints to pass outside, but then switches inside to his half-back partner Lucu. Then the Bath defence is fatally unbalanced and the ball is put through the hands, via a freaky bit of handling by Lucu initially as he taps the ball upwards and over his head, twisting to catch it … some desperate Bath defending near the line forces them to recycle the ball but there is no keeping them out, and Lucu crashes over under the sticks! Just lovely to watch, unless you are a Bath fan, or if you’re watching and desperately trying to contain them from within Bath’s defensive line …
34 min: UBB truck it up with a maul from the lineout. Lucu sends up a clever high kick, directing it infield, and Muir does brilliantly to claim it under pressure. Then Tom Dunn knocks on and it’s a scrum for Bordeaux in a handy position, outside the 22 …
32 min: Bath are exerting a little bit of control now. They play a few phases around the 22, then Arundell tries a chip and chase down the middle. He’s hoping for a kind bounce and doesn’t get it, even if a crazy bounce does confound the first Bordeaux defender trying to snaffle it, Jalibert. Then Guy Pepper has a chance to run down the Bath left wing – he tries to switch on the afterburners but is dragged down and is then penalised for holding on. Penalty for Bordeaux.
Try! 27 min: Bordeaux 14-12 Bath (Muir)
Muir is over in the corner after a stunningly intricate Bath attack! Wonderful score! But a foot in touch? No! It’s a try! That is a magnificent finish by the wing, leaping for the line and using his strength to dot down with a full-length dive as Lucu arrives to try and force him into touch. Muir is a big lad and he used all his physical presence there. But it was silky skill and co-ordination that enabled him to apply the finish, too.
Top-class stuff. Russell misses the conversion from out wide.
25 min: Pressure on the Bordeaux line. Barbeary thinks he has the ball down but the ref says no. Still it’s a penalty and Amashukeli tells Lucu the next infringement under pressure will be a yellow card … the ball pops up kindly for Bordeaux next and Lucu can hammer a clearing kick downfield.
22 min: Lawrence offers a lovely pop pass to his centre colleague Hennessy, who roars through the defensive line and arrows towards the right corner! Bielle-Biarrey is on the case and drags him down, obviously no one is beating him for pace. Was there a high tackle by a Bordeaux player by Barbeary there after Bath recycled and went for the line? Looks like a shoulder into the head by (I think) Adam Coleman. This could even be a red card … but no. The ref, Nika Amashukeli, says no clear head contact. That looks debatable.
20 min: Bath work a few phases around halfway. Barbeary tries to use his considerable heft with a strong carry but is stopped dead. Then it’s back to basics with a box kick from Spencer. It’s a good chance for Bath, into their opponents’ 22, but Du Toit is penalised for holding on, Lucu burrowing away over the ball and trying to effect the turnover. He gets the penalty. A big waste – and Bath need to sharpen up at both ends of the pitch. Jalibert chooses to belt the penalty straight down field and chase it. Cameron Woki leads the chase. It’s all happening.