Connacht Begin Champions Cup With Deflating Six-Try Defeat

Connacht slumped to a six-try 41-5 defeat as a lacklustre performance allowed Bordeaux-Bègles to dominate tonight’s Investec Champions Cup opener at the Sportsground.

Shamus Hurley-Langton’s maul try, on his tournament debut, had Connacht only 12-5 behind at half-time. Working through a swirling wind, Bordeaux struck twice in slick fashion through Romain Buros and Damian Penaud.

The injury-enforced departure of Mack Hansen was a serious setback for the hosts, and the French club found further holes in the brittle home defence as Pablo Uberti and Buros both crossed inside 14 minutes of the restart.

As Connacht continued to struggle, Bordeaux finished with a flourish as captain Maxime Lucu added a penalty, their big scrum pocketed a penalty try, and winger Uberti completed his brace two minutes from the end.

Less than a week on from their last-minute heartbreak against Leinster, Pete Wilkins’ men were worryingly outplayed and outmuscled by a clinical Bordeaux team that made a real statement of intent away from home.

The sight of the impressive Cian Prendergast swatting away Matthieu Jalibert’s attempted tackle quickly warmed up the home crowd, but Connacht’s first maul attempt saw Dave Heffernan held up under a pile of bodies.

The cross-field wind spoiled Heffernan’s next lineout throw, allowing Bordeaux to build from deep where Jalibert released big prop and player-of-the-match Sipili Falatea to break past halfway before his hands let him down.

Still, it was a warning shot from the French side and they hit the front just minutes later. A switch move on the right saw Tevita Tatafu slice through a defensive gap and he released the supporting Buros for a seven-pointer.

However, it was a case of third time lucky for Connacht’s lineout drive on the quarter hour mark. A scrum penalty put them in position and Hurley-Langton crashed over through the splintering defence. JJ Hanrahan missed the conversion to the left.

The westerners soon suffered a big blow, though, with Hansen having to hobble off. Bordeaux got their free-flowing attack firing again, bursting through midfield before crisp passing from Buros and Tatafu put Penaud over from the left wing.

Lucu’s missed conversion left it 12-5 to the visitors, and after Hanrahan had overcooked a penalty to touch, Bordeaux beat a path back into the Connacht 22 thanks to a couple of turnovers won by prop Ugo Boniface.

Connacht survived a bout of scrum pressure and while their attack was largely stunted, their defence improved with Prendergast’s jackaling earning a crucial clearing penalty and Darragh Murray forcing a knock-on at a late Bordeaux lineout.

Nonetheless, the second half was barely two minutes’ old when scrum half Lucu sniped through into Connacht’s 22 from a ruck, combining with Buros who timed his pass brilliantly for Uberti to score from close in. Lucu converted to extend the lead to 14 points.

Pete Samu and Tatafu both thwarted Connacht as they hunted down an elusive second try, the openside inspiring a maul turnover and the tireless Japanese number 8 pinching possession close to his own posts.

Connacht’s execution let them down again with a costly knock-on, and when Bordeaux got back into scoring range, they outflanked the home side for full-back Buros to bag the bonus point try via a Penaud pass.

Lucu tagged on a 63rd-minute penalty, putting Connacht 22 points in arrears with Bordeaux replacement Ben Tameifuna picking up a couple of turnovers at the breakdown.

Although flanker Prendergast continued to stand out as Connacht’s best player, the 24-stone Tameifuna was at the heart of a strong scrum shove which earned Yannick Bru’s charges a penalty try.

Michael McDonald came on to make his Connacht debut and despite plenty of endeavour, they were unable to pick holes in the visitors’ defence. Uberti wrapped up the scoring out wide, following some excellent offloading and passing from Tameifuna, Paul Abadie and Maxime Lamothe.