Bordeaux (AFP)
Bordeaux-Bègles, version Christophe Urios, began his season with a fanfare by offering the head of champion Toulouse (30-25) after a pleasant and undecided match Saturday night at the first day of the Top 14.
UBB was up, revanched after its painful failures against the same opponents last season. She trembled a long time before finding the click by her faithful and emblematic Connor, author of the essay (51st) that changed everything and launched his success.
Toulouse, deprived of 13 international - against 6 for UBB - has been less effective for this recovery and consoles with a defensive bonus earned. He responded with a snap to the Girondins originally ambitious and exciting but whose clumsiness coupled with indiscipline did not allow them to keep up with this pace.
In the end, the Stadium pushed to return, but he came across the other local day hero, ex-Biarrot Lucu who saved his new homeland.
In this festive match, everything had ideally started for the men of Urios, rewarded after barely a minute by a test of the very prompt Buros at the conclusion of a movement initiated by Botica, then Connor at height and finally Lesgourgues at the foot towards the beginning visitor where the old Pau was the most adept to flatten.
The local storm passed, the Stadium reacted with his frames and it is not the loss of Tauzin ten minutes for anti-game that has slowed down, quite the contrary. During their numerical inferiority, Bézy gave himself a breakthrough little rage and winning and Holmes punished an offside (10-11, 24).
Bordeaux lacking as much precision, imagination, clean balloons, Toulouse took the opportunity to take the lead by the boot of Holmes (16-20, 49th).
This is the moment that Connor chose to rock this more tense part. A kick to follow for himself and the Australian went off to register a second try just before the exit line and restored confidence in the local ranks.
More determined and despite a blow of fate - botany scrambling resulting in the trial of Belan (60) who at other times would leaded them, the Bordelais left more beautiful in the image of Jalibert who found his inspiration of two years ago and gave his team five points ahead (30-25, 67th).
The new blood injected by Ugo Mola gave color to his family who were getting dangerously close to the Girondine line, but failed to reach him through Lucu's fault.
© 2019 AFP