After a long fight and a final failed transformation, which could have taken them into overtime, Stade Français lost by two small points (22-20) on Saturday.
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The day after a Dantesque semi-final between Stade Toulouse and Stade Rochelais, Union Bordeaux-Bègles and Stade français also offered a breathtaking spectacle, Saturday June 22, in the other semi-final of the Top 14 2024. After spending almost the entire second act in its camp, suffering the Parisian assaults, the UBB held on to win (22-20) and reach the first Top 14 final in its history.
Second in the regular season, the Parisians nevertheless scored a try which could send them into overtime at the end of the evening. Joris Segonds had to transform it from along the touchline. But the Stade Français fly-half missed his kick, before bursting into tears. Because without these two crucial points, it was indeed the Bordeaux-Bègles Union which emerged victorious from the duel.
After eliminating Racing 92 in the quarter-final, the teammates of Damian Penaud and Matthieu Jalibert spent the evening defending, or almost, against the other Ile-de-France club. It took a classy action to see the UBB move up the entire field in a few passes, before Pierre Bochaton concluded this 80-meter counter with a third Bordeaux try (22-10) in the second half. Enough to breathe new life into the premises, which were suffocating under Parisian pressure.
Fortunately for the public at Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux, UBB had done what was necessary by scoring two tries in the first act, before (already) resisting the return of the Parisians at the end of the first period. Also authors of three tries, but less skilled on the feet, the Stade Français players gave everything, in vain. The Bordelais will challenge the reigning champions and European champions Toulouse in the final, at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, on June 28.
