France star Penaud pokes the Bears as Bordeaux ease past Bristol

Bordeaux-Bègles secured a commanding 36-17 victory over Bristol Bears in the Champions Cup, with France wing Damian Penaud delivering an outstanding performance.

The win in front of a full house at Stade Chaban-Delmas, puts Bordeaux at the top of Pool One with two bonus-point wins, underscoring their strong start in the tournament.

The French side scored five tries through Penaud, scrumhalf Maxime Lucu, wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey, centre Ben Tapuai, and replacement scrumhalf Théo Nanette.

Penaud in particular was instrumental in the first half, contributing to Lucu's and Bielle-Biarrey's tries before scoring one himself.

Lucu added further points with two conversions and a penalty, giving Bordeaux a substantial lead by halftime, while Bristol's response was a single penalty from flyhalf Sam Worsley.

The second half saw Bordeaux maintain their dominance, with Tapuai scoring in the 55th minute to secure the bonus point. Lucu, who amassed 14 points, was later substituted to a standing ovation.

Bristol Bears managed two tries towards the end of the game through replacement James Dun and flyhalf Oscar Lennon, both converted by Sam Worsley.

Despite ending the game with 14 men due to a yellow for centre Yoram Moefana, Bordeaux's victory was decisive. The team will now face Saracens and the Bulls in their pursuit of what would be a first-ever Champions Cup title.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux:

Tries: Lucu, Bielle-Biarrey, Penaud, Tapuai, Nanette

Cons: Lucu 3, Jalibert

Pen: Lucu

For Bristol:

Tries: Dun, Lennon

Cons: Worsley 2

Pen: Worsley

Yellow card: Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux, 79? – repeated infringements)

Teams:

Bordeaux: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Yoram Moefana, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Mahamadou Diaby, 6 Bastien Vergnes, 5 Thomas Jolmes, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot.

Replacements: 16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Marko Gazzotti, 21 Antoine Miquel, 22 Théo Nanette, 23 Pablo Uberti.

Bristol: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Sam Wolstenholme, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jake Heenan (captain), 6 Joe Owen, 5 Josh Caulfield, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Max Lahiff.

Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Sam Grahamslaw, 18 Steven Longwell, 19 James Dun, 20 Paddy Pearce, 21 Oscar Lennon, 22 Joe Jenkins, 22 Jack Bates.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Padraic Reidy (Ireland)

TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)