Bordeaux Begles 55-15 Saracens: Sarries thrashed by French side in Investec Champions Cup
| Bordeaux Begles: (24) 55 |
| Tries: Bielle-Biarrey (2), Buros, Lamothe, Penaud (2), Depoortere, Jalibert, Uberti Cons: Jalibert 3 Lucu 2 |
| Saracens: (3) 15 |
| Tries: Tompkins, Dan Pens: Farrell Cons: Farrell |
Saracens suffered a club record European defeat as Matthieu Jalibert inspired Bordeaux Begles to a superb nine-try Investec Champions Cup win.
France fly-half Jalibert set up three tries in the first half as the hosts ran the Premiership champions ragged.
Jalibert, Damian Penaud with his second try and Nicolas Depoortere all touched down after the break as Bordeaux racked up 43 points without reply.
Saracens scored two tries but the hosts added two more to pass 50 points.
The thrashing means Saracens have lost five of their past seven games.
They drop below Bristol in Pool 1 to fifth place on points difference with one round of games to go.
Bristol are at bottom side Connacht on Friday while Saracens face second-placed Lyon at home on Saturday. The top four in each pool qualify for the last 16.
Bordeaux clinched their place in the knockout stages and will aim to ensure they finish top of the group by beating the Bulls in South Africa.
Jalibert brilliance leaves Saracens in disarray
Louis-Bielle-Biarrey scored the first try in the eighth minute with a ruthless finish from a move instigated by a fizzing Jalibert pass.
Jalibert fed Romain Buros with a well-timed pass to set the full-back clear to power over the line for the second.
Maxime Lamothe added the third from a routine line-out before France wing Penaud scored perhaps the standout try of the nine five minutes before the break.
Starting in his own half, Jalibert danced past two defenders with ease and the ball was moved swiftly to Penaud who cruised over the line, his big smile showing how much the hosts were enjoying themselves.
Saracens, meanwhile, were stunned and only had Owen Farrell’s early penalty to show for their efforts as the half-time whistle blew.
Bordeaux heap more misery on Sarries
The story continued in the second half as Bordeaux’s running power and fluent passing resulted in centre Depoortere going over in the corner just three minutes after the break.
Saracens’ own errors resulted in the next two tries.
First, the visitors lost the ball in midfield and Jalibert scored when Penaud eased past Sean Maitland and fed his fly-half the ball. Then Penaud cantered over after he intercepted Elliot Daly’s no-look pass.
Saracens finally got their first try in the 62nd minute with Nick Tompkins spotting the space to dot down after a line-out move.
One minute later, hooker Theo Dan intercepted a pass and showed his pace to race down the wing and score another try.
Saracens almost scored another as the hosts threw the ball around but instead it was Bordeaux who scored when Farrell’s kick was charged down, booted down the field and the bouncing ball dropped into the arms of a galloping Pablo Uberti to score his side’s eighth.
And to rub further salt into the wounds, Saracens turned the ball over again and Bordeaux moved the ball past the visitors’ exhausted defence for Bielle-Biarrey to run in his second try.
Line-ups
Bordeaux: Buros; Penaud, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Lucu (capt); Poirot, Lamothe, Tameifuna, Petti, Coleman, Bochaton, Gazzotti, Samu.
Replacements: Latterrade, Boniface, Sadie, Douglas, Diaby, Miquel, Abadie, Uberti.
Saracens: Goode; Lewington, Daly, Tompkins, Maitland, Farrell (capt), Van Zyl; Mulipola, Dan, Judge, Itoje, Tizard, Isiekwe, Christie, Earl.
Replacements: Hadfield, Crean, Clarey, B Vunipola, Gonzalez, Simpson, Hartley, Segun.
Referee: Chris Busby (Ire)
>