The improved home victories on Sunday for Bordeaux-Bègles and Toulouse against Leicester and Ulster round off the great weekend for French clubs in the Champions Cup, receiving six out of eight on the first day.
The two finalists of the last Top 14, who are among the favorites of the competition, confirmed the dynamic started Friday evening by the nice blow of La Rochelle in Bath (24-20).
UBB, hanging on in the first half, finally accelerated after returning from the locker room to win with the offensive bonus point against Leicester (42-28), currently third in the English championship.
After several lackluster performances in the championship, the Gironde club regained its fiery attack with six tries scored.
Australian third row Pete Samu signed a double, like the inevitable Louis Bielle-Biarrey, following the momentum of his successful autumn tests with the Blues.
“They wanted to make us physically fart. They underestimated us a little, we knew how to keep our backs and we planted banderillas when necessary”appreciated the scrum half and Girondin captain Maxime Lucu.
Toulouse scrum half Antoine Dupont (D) kicks against Ulster in the Champions Cup, in Toulouse, December 8, 2024 / Valentine CHAPUIS / AFP
Toulouse, defending champion, struck even harder against Ulster (61-21), with nine tries, including two each for the colossus Emmanuel Meafou and the wisp Ange Capuozzo.
Difficult weather conditions did not prevent the six-time European champions from playing hard, with a good Antoine Dupont – Romain Ntamack partnership in charge.
The successes of UBB and Toulouse are added to those of La Rochelle in Bath, Clermont against Treviso (28-0), Racing 92 against Harlequins (23-12) and Toulon against the Stormers (24- 14) in South Africa.
“A lot of French clubs want to play this competition to the fullest and give themselves the means to win, whether at home or away”a dit Dupont. “So much better to see the clubs shine, it also shows that French rugby is performing”.
Only two Top 14 clubs experienced defeat during this inaugural day: Castres, which has never made European games a priority, in Northampton (38-8), and Stade français, in bad shape in the championship, on the Munster field (33-7).
