Saracens suffered their worst ever loss in a European match as Bordeaux mounted a comeback to secure a spot in the last 16 of the Champions Cup with a dominant performance in a 55-15 win.

In the match against the Premiership champions, Bordeaux’s fly-half Matthieu Jalibert assisted in three out of four tries during the first half, leading his team to victory.

Bordeaux’s Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey both scored two tries in a strong performance, earning their team a bonus point and maintaining their undefeated record in Pool 1.

In the fourth minute, Owen Farrell scored the initial points for his team with a penalty kick. However, Bordeaux quickly retaliated as Bielle-Biarrey sprinted down the wing and scored four minutes later. Matthieu Jalibert successfully converted the try.

In the twelfth minute, they scored their second successful attempt of the game. With impressive pressure, Romain Buros broke through a gap in the Saracens defense and scored to the right of the goalpost. Just nine minutes later, Maxime Lamothe added a third point from a maul.

Bordeaux earned an extra point in the game after 35 minutes, thanks to Jalibert’s impressive play that led to a strong team effort. They capitalized on a quick counterattack against Saracens, and Penaud, a winger from France, successfully scored in the corner.

The hosts continued their momentum in the second half with a quick goal from Nicolas Depoortere. A fantastic play resulted in Jalibert scoring between the posts, with Maxime Lucu successfully converting. Penaud scored his second goal of the game just before the 60-minute mark, with Lucu securing the extra points.

After five minutes, Saracens finally scored their first try thanks to Nick Tompkins, which was then converted by Farrell. Just two minutes later, they added another try when Theo Dan made a run down the left side and successfully crossed the line.

Unfortunately, with only two minutes remaining, Bordeaux was able to reach 50 points thanks to a blocked kick from Farrell that resulted in a try by Pablo Uberti. This was followed by Bielle-Biarrey’s ninth try of the evening, solidifying their dominant performance.

Saracens’ significant loss resulted in them falling below Bristol to the fifth spot in the standings, with only one round of games remaining. Bristol will face Connacht on Friday, while Saracens will host Lyon on Saturday.

At a fully-booked Stade Marcel Deflandre, on the other hand, Leicester failed to take advantage of a two-player advantage in the second half and were defeated 45-12 by the Champions Cup title holders, La Rochelle.

La Rochelle, in search of their first victory in Pool D, scored seven tries to the Tigers’ two, handing the previously undefeated team their first loss. George Martin and Dan Kelly scored for the visiting team, with Jamie Shillcock converting one.

The center UJ Seuteni and the wing Teddy Thomas both scored two tries for the team that has won the championship twice in a row. Pierre Bourgarit, Will Skelton, and Joel Sclavi also scored points for the team. Antoine Hastoy successfully kicked five extra points.

The French team had 13 players removed from the field when Skelton and Jonathan Danty were both sent to the sin-bin within one minute of each other in the beginning of the second half. Despite this setback, La Rochelle maintained their control and remained in contention for a spot in the last 16.

Leicester entered the game having won their last two matches against Stormers and Stade Français. Meanwhile, La Rochelle started the game still looking for their first win of the season after losing to Stormers and Leinster.

Bourgarit started the scoring with a try in the fifth minute during the game in which the home team also saw the return of their captain, Grégory Alldritt, for his first appearance in the cup this season.

Before the 38th minute, Martin scored the first point for the Tigers, following La Rochelle’s two attempts. Shillcock successfully converted the score.

Leicester was unable to take advantage of La Rochelle’s Ultan Dillane being in the sin-bin during the first half. Even with Skelton being sent off in the 50th minute and Danty following shortly after, Leicester was unable to score any points during their two-man advantage.

Kelly scored a goal in the 79th minute, but it was not enough for Leicester as they lost to Pool 4 leaders Leinster. La Rochelle will play against Sale in their next match, and the winner will secure a spot in the knockout stage.

Source: theguardian.com