Bordeaux-Begles 28-13 Ulster: Late blitz downs Ulster
Last Updated: 16/10/16 4:45pm
Three late tries from Bordeaux-Begles gave them a 28-13 victory over Ulster in the Champions Cup on Sunday.
Ulster led 13-9 with six minutes remaining thanks to an early try from Andrew Trimble and eight points from the boot of Paddy Jackson.
Bordeaux-Begles had offered three kicks from the tee - with Ireland international Ian Madigan slotting two penalties - before a flurry of tries sent Ulster packing without so much as a losing bonus point.
Replacement prop Sébastien Taofifenua was the first to score for the home side, wrestling over from close range on the back of a driving maul.
Directly from the restart Bordeaux-Begles broke out of their half, with Metuisela Talebula chasing down his own kick ahead before feeding a pass inside to Baptiste Serin. Serin did not manage to get the ball down over the line, but replays showed he was tackled early by Sean Reidy, so the referee awarded a penalty try and sent Reidy to the bin.
With a minute remaining and Ulster eight points down, the visitors were on the attack on the opposition line and awarded a penalty. Rather than kick for poles and secure a losing bonus point, Paul Marshall took a quick tap penalty and ran the ball. Possession was then shipped to Trimble in midfield and the winger spilled the ball, with Bordeaux-Begles scooping up the loose offering and passing it out wide to Blair Connor on the left touchline, who ran the length of the field to consign Ulster to a 28-13 loss.
Madigan opened the scoring for Bordeaux with a third-minute penalty. But in a scrappy opening quarter, it was Ulster who first crossed the whitewash thanks to a simple two-phase set-piece move, Stuart Olding's crashball quickly reworked for skipper Andrew Trimble to sprint through unfettered.
Jackson added the extras and booted a penalty just before half-time after No 8 Loann Goujon's attempted pick-up from the base of a scrum floundered as the pitch cut up and bounced the ball beyond his reach.
Madigan hit his second penalty early in the second half, followed by a third by Lionel Beauxis, before Jackson pulled one back for a 13-9 lead.
But then came the thrilling denouement as Taofifenua used his immense size to squirm past Trimble, Ruan Pienaar and Rory Best and dot down in the corner.
Then came the penalty try , and the icing on Bordeaux's cake was provided by Australian winger Connor, who sprinted the length of the field for a memorable try after full-back Jean-Marcellin Buttin sparked an attack from his own tryline.
