Champions cup – UBB: “We were able to knock out” Leicester says Maxime Lucu

In a sold-out Chaban-Delmas stadium once again (32,215 spectators), Union Bordeaux-Bègles affirmed its ambitions in this new Champions Cup campaign by winning against the English Leicester 42 to 28 with the offensive bonus . As is often the case in this competition, the two teams played hard. Led 3 tries to two (Samu and Petti) at the break, the Bordelais made the difference at the start of the second half by scoring three times in the space of five minutes (Bielle-Biarrey twice and Samu again). Depoortere even increased the score with another try at the end of the match. Enough to satisfy UBB players and staff. Here are the reactions.

“They may have underestimated us”

Maxime Lucu, captain of UBB : “The English are strong on the bases. And when we concede penalties, we know that they are clinical. In the first half, we had the chances but we lacked patience. We knew that in the second half, with the support of the wind, it was going to pass. We knew how to make it happen and knock them out when necessary. They wanted to knock us out physically and we perhaps underestimated them with the turnover balls. over, which is our strength. We waited for the English to make hand mistakes and then we launched our arrows like Louis Bielle-Biarrey We had a month of November where we struggled to put our game in place. standing game, this movement game we regained confidence and we had a lot of fun.

Noël McNamara, UBB attack coach : “The Tigers played well in the first half and the wind was very strong against us. Leicester played at home and we conceded tries a little too easily. It was a high level match. Leicester are a good team with a very good defense. I said after Montpellier that we cannot score 5 or 6 tries every week. Today, we were better offensively but we could have still been more efficient.

Guido Petti, second row of UBB : “We had problems on the lineout against Montpellier. We worked well all week. We connected well throughout the match and we were rewarded. Leicester is a big team. We knew we would win on small details and that's what happened. We know our three-quarter line. We know that if we do the job up front, we recover balls with a strong defense, they will make the difference. what happened I believe in the work and I know that we will sometimes have difficult matches. The season is long with the European Cup, the Top 14. We must continue to be present every week.

Michael Cheika, manager of the Leicester Tigers : “We lost track for a few minutes at the start of the second half and it's a shame because, the rest of the time, we were in the match and we managed to do what we wanted to do. Concerning Louis Bielle- Biarrey, when you have his speed, it's impossible to stop and he has a team with him who knows his strengths and plays according to his strengths.