GThanks to a try from Matiu after the siren and a transformation from Carbery, Union Bordeaux-Bègles managed to snatch a defensive bonus point from Clermont (32-27) (5 tries to 3) this Saturday afternoon. “A lesser evil” in the eyes of Yannick Bru. The Gironde manager once again regretted the face displayed by his team away. Apart from its resounding success in Toulouse (12-16) at the end of September, the UBB shows too many shortcomings far from Chaban-Delmas. And the last meeting of this first block of Top 14 at the Michelin stadium only confirmed it.
“The block's results are positive, especially at home. Outside, we are still on orange alert”
“The block's record is positive, especially at home (5 victories in 5 matches, including three bonuses). Outside, we are still on orange alert, underlines the boss of the Bordeaux staff. We take a defensive bonus from Clermont and Lyon (28-26), we leave with nothing from La Rochelle (32-22). We only have one away victory, it is prestigious but we only have one. That won't be enough if we want to join the fight with the best. You will have to ask yourself the right questions. »
For this first match of the doubles period, without its back line executives (Jalibert, Penaud, Bielle-Biarrey, Moefana, Depoortere), the UBB nevertheless displayed a good state of mind and never gave up. on the ASM grounds. “We could have collapsed when everything turned against us,” explains Yannick Bru. We will be satisfied with this point. We had a generous match but far from the high level and the objectives which are ours. We knew that to win here, given the context, we had to play a very high level match and we didn't do that. »
Too much wasted ammo
As in Lyon and La Rochelle, the UBB again missed its start to the match by conceding one try after 45 seconds of play and three after 25 minutes: the first (Jurand, 1re) on a poorly received kick-off, the second (Fouyssac, 14e) on a defensive error in the first half of play, the third (Delguy, 25e) resulted from a fault of indiscipline. In this sector, the Bordelais did not make it easy with three yellow cards (Van Rensburg, 25e ; Matthew, 65e ; Garcia, 78e). “When you fall behind away, it's difficult to come back from the score,” observed Maxime Lucu after the match. We start too far each time. »
In their “remontada” operation, the Bordelais wasted a countless number of balls close to the opposing goal line. Again. “It’s not normal that we didn’t score at the end of the first half, when we cornered ASM and took control with our pack of forwards,” complains Yannick Bru . After four penalties, UBB lost the ball in a muddled scrum on Clermont's 5 meters (33e). “The other turning point was the try refused to Maxime Lamothe for a maul for a screen (62e)”. Not to mention this ball released by Gazzotti in the goal when flattening (35e) or these three losses of balls in touch on the opposing five meters (44e46e69e). “Away, we put too many obstacles in the way,” admits Connor Sa, the young hooker.
“We know that we have significant room for improvement, we have work to do,” warns Yannick Bru. We are on a positive roadmap but we are aware that we are below our objectives. »
