Lyon-Bordeaux in a playoff match at the Gerland stadium. No, this is not a return to the past and a 2010 Champions League poster between Olympique Lyonnais and Girondins de Bordeaux. But a rugby match.
On Sunday June 4, Union Bordeaux-Bègles (UBB) qualified for the semi-finals of the Top 14 by defeating Lyon Olympique Universitaire (LOU), 32-25, thanks in particular to two tries from the winger Madosh Tambwe. The Girondin club will face Stade Rochelais in the last four, Saturday June 10, on the lawn of the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian (Spain).
These Championship play-offs marked the start of a series of crucial matches on French soil, many of which will take place during the Rugby World Cup (September 8 to October 28). And less than a hundred days before the planetary meeting, several players from the XV of France had decided to take a little head start and shine in the final stages of the Top 14.
The first of them was Matthieu Jalibert. The UBB opening half has had a difficult season, he who is barred at the Blues by Romain Ntamack and has had a string of injuries in recent months, first in the ankle then in the finger. Against Lyon, he sometimes stood out negatively, notably by missing a transformation well within his reach at the start of the match (7th).
But his teammates surely didn't mind him much: it was indeed the fly-half who had flattened the first down of the game seconds earlier, flush with a ruck. A try that probably should have been refused for a loss of control of the ball, but the referee did not have the opportunity to review the images in slow motion. Due to a technical problem, the video refereeing did not work this Sunday.
The Bordelais Madosh Tambwe overturned the meeting
If the Bordelais fired first, the Rhodaniens were quick to react. Another international, Ethan Dumortier, took charge of responding quickly (11th), after an overflow from Baptiste Couilloud, also used to the lists of Fabien Galthié. Then it was the overpowering Fijian center Josua Tuisova who found the fault by concluding an action that he himself had triggered (30th). To these two achievements was added the precision of Lyon opener Lima Sopoaga (ten points on Sunday).
Still, the Bordelais had not picked up the score and were going to overturn the end of the match thanks to a man: Madosh Tambwe. Invisible or almost for an hour, the Congolese winger signed two exploits in quick succession to give victory to his team, the first along a sideline (67th), the second on the other side (78th) .
Narrowly qualified in sixth place and unable to win away from home for three months, the Bordelais thus find the last four of the championship after this success on Lyon soil. “There is a lot of pride and emotion tonight. I think few people believed in us, said Matthieu Jalibert at the end of the match, at the microphone of Canal . This is the strength of this group, we are often where we are not expected. We knew we were capable of putting Lyon in difficulty, and we succeeded. We haven't won anything yet, but I'm happy for the team. »
To win something precisely, the Bordelais will now have to eliminate La Rochelle in the semi-finals, a team which, on the contrary, is starting to be used to trophies and has just won its second consecutive European title. The UBB will therefore try their luck against a team in great shape, after falling to Toulouse in 2021 (21-24), and Montpellier last year (10-19).
