Online Reporter
Damian Penaud scored a tournament record six tries as Bordeaux-Begles hammered the Sharks, while Antoine Dupont shone as Toulouse thrashed Leicester in Champions Cup action on Sunday.
Wales coach Warren Gatland will no doubt have been an interested, if slightly apprehensive, spectator as the two French teams – packed with the core of the France team — were ruthless in the two matches that came just 12 days before Les Bleus open their Six Nations campaign against the stuttering Welsh in Paris.
Penaud’s hatful of tries in the 66-12 victory saw Bordeaux secure top spot in Pool 1 with 20 points from a maximum of 20, and home advantage in the next round in April.
Dupont’s France back-up Maxime Lucu, Ugo Boniface, Yoram Moefana and Jacques Nguimbous all added tries for Bordeaux, with Matthieu Jalibert hitting eight conversions.
“The first part of the path has been very well managed,” said Bordeaux coach Yannick Bru. We were drawn in Toulouse’s pool, so the slightest mistake would cost us an away match in the knock-out phase.”
One blow for Bordeaux was the absence of winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who withdrew from the match with vertigo and will miss the first get-together of the France team ahead of the Six Nations.
The heavy defeat for the Durban-based Sharks meant Ulster — who beat Exeter 52-24 on Friday — leapfrogged them into fourth place with a better points difference of -61 compared with the South Africans’ -87.
Ulster will now be away from home for their last-16 Champions Cup tie as the Sharks drop into the second-tier Challenge Cup.
Six-time champions Toulouse finished second to Bordeaux in the same Pool 1, on 19 points, but their 80-12 victory over Leicester was similarly impressive, with them running in a dozen tries in a masterful display.
“Today’s match was close to perfection,” acknowledged Dupont.
Not to be outdone, there was also a famous 32-24 away victory for Castres over English giants and three-time champions Saracens.
The win snapped a run of 21 straight defeats away from home in Champions Cup action for the French club.
Castres captain Adrien Seguret scored the decisive try to ensure the shock win that saw the Top 14 team take second place in Pool 3, which is topped by Northampton.
Saracens, with new England skipper Maro Itoje in the second row, finished fourth behind Munster and miss out on a home tie. — SuperSport.
