By winning (31-13) away on Saturday afternoon, Ronan O’Gara’s players won the first round against UBB.
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They haven’t quite made it halfway, but the La Rochelle players have struck a blow by winning a precious success (31-13) on the lawn of Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Saturday April 9. In these round of 16 Champions Cup new format (return match), where qualification for the quarter is offered to whoever scores the most points over the two matches, Grégory Alldritt’s teammates made sure to receive their new best enemy in a position of strength next weekend.
The Rochelais have certainly marked the Bordelo-Bèglais psychologically to whom they had already inflicted four consecutive defeats in the Top 14. The latest dates back to last Saturday. At the end of a stifling match, the two clubs had torn themselves on the ground, but also in the stands through their respective coaches (15-16). This time, the Maritimes seemed a step above, without the UBB having a bad game and this is perhaps the most worrying for the proteges of Christophe Urios.
Extremely skilful in conquest, sharp in collisions, real poisons in the ground game, a great mastery emerged from this performance from the Maritimes. In a very pleasant match where playing times followed one another without interruption, Ronan O’Gara’s players were more pragmatic than their opponents of the day. In addition to the leg of the New Zealand opener Ihaia West in front of the posts (14 points), the achievements of Raymond Rhule on the wing (22nd) and Jonathan Danty in the center (54th), as well as a penalty try are came to endorse the score.
Despite the very solid performances of their internationals, in particular Cameron Woki author of a try (51st) and decisive passer on that of Federico Mori (68th) and Maxime Lucu in the scrum, the Bordelo-Bèglais could not do anything. Apart from a few rare bad choices, such as this overly jumped pass from Lamerat to Diaby (24th), they also had the ball stolen in hot moments by the excellent La Rochelle defense, we think in particular of the precious scrapings of Pierre Bourgarit (25th ) and Grégory Alldritt (36th).
What push a little more the UBB in the gloom. The Union remains on a single victory in the last eight games.