The reaction expected by Christophe Urios has taken place. Union Bordeaux-Bègles easily disposed of Racing 92 (36-16), Sunday June 12 in Chaban-Delmas, in the Top 14 play-off. Led at the break, UBB subsequently accelerated, carried by its internationals . With five tries, against only one for the Ile-de-France, the Bordelo-Béglais logically reach the semi-finals. They will face Montpellier next Saturday (June 18) in Nice.
80′ See you next week in Nice in the semi-finals!#ILOVEUBB #UBBR92 pic.twitter.com/8twHwu500h
—UBB Rugby (@UBBrugby) June 12, 2022
Stung in their pride by their manager this week, the Girondin players owed him a revenge. We first saw them borrowed, awkward, in a first act with a feeble rhythm. In line with a gloomy 2022 vintage, UBB lost balls (16 in all), made mistakes (9 in total), until they returned to the locker room under the whistles of their public (8-10 at the pause). The only breach was lit by Maxime Lucuwhose penalty quickly played in his camp led to the first try of Santiago Cordero (20th).
“I know we are capable of anything”, Urios said earlier this week. The character shown by his men in the second period confirms his words. Carried by its internationals, the sleeping beauty from Bordeaux-Béglaise came out of the meanders to offer an offensive festival. “We slacked off in the 2nd half and we found solutions”analyzed Matthieu Jalibert on Canal +.
We will not be fooling around by saying that the UBB has reassured itself around the fundamentals. Still, the Bordelo-Béglais scored two tries from the start after a big domination in the scrum. Injured this winter, in difficulty in the first act then decisive, UJ Seuteni embodies this comeback of the leaders: he converted an offering from Yoram Moefana (47th) before distilling a winning kick pass for Romain Buros (54th).
Cameron Woki (58th) and Ben Lam (80th) gave more relief to the Girondin success, each time on controlled game launches. Sometimes flamboyant, often in management, the Lucu-Jalibert hinge was preponderant. “The leaders answered present, they had an amazing weekgreeted Urios afterwards. Tonight is their success!” At the bottom of the hole after its defeat in Perpignan (22-15) a week ago, the UBB has gained significant confidence in view of its half against the MHR. An opponent beaten twice in the regular season.
Seuteni restores the advantage to@UBBrugby thanks to Moefana who hands over#UBBR92 pic.twitter.com/njNwLbRi0n
– Canal Rugby Club (@CanalRugbyClub) June 12, 2022
For a long time, Racing thought of playing spoilsports. In the coup for fifty minutes, the Ile-de-France residents first advanced masked. Never transcendent but always realistic, they converted one of their rare incursions into the opposing 22 meters, by Max Spring (39th). But they did not know how to pack the first period, despite the many opposing slags. On the length, the players of Laurent Travers were also unable to compete with the Girondin steamroller.
“If there is something positive, it’s that we gave everything”, recognized winger Juan Imhoff. There is still a form of logic in seeing this Racing out of the last four: with 70 points, it posted its worst regular season record since 2016-2017. Ile-de-France residents will have to rebuild without Baubigny, Tanga, Machenaud and Thomas, all lined up on Sunday, who will leave the club this summer.