Gloucester and defending champions Bordeaux Begles opened this season’s Champions Cup with a 36-36 draw at Kingsholm. The French side were chasing a third consecutive title but were left without victory in a dramatic finish.
Bordeaux had been at risk of their first defeat in the competition since their quarter-final loss to Harlequins in April 2024. The visitors trailed, and Gloucester substitute Will Trenholm broke through the defence twice in the middle of the second half. French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey responded quickly with his second try of the match, and Maxime Lucu added the conversion.
A minute’s silence was observed before kick-off in memory of Lions lock Hyron Andrews, who died on Friday aged 31. The former Sale player died in a hotel belonging to the South African side the day before their Champions Cup match in La Rochelle. Lions will play that fixture on Saturday in Andrews’ honour, with further tributes planned throughout the opening round of the competition.
Gloucester reached a seven-point half-time lead after coming back from behind twice, with all three first-half tries coming from scrum dominance. Bordeaux’s young scrum-half Martin Page-Relo wriggled clear to score the opening try within five minutes. The hosts responded through Arthur Clark and Max Llewellyn, while Sipili Falatea capitalised on a powerful run by England’s Tom Willis to level the scores again.
Captain Lucu hit a penalty from his own half to put Bordeaux ahead, but George Barton broke through from close range, then kicked a penalty to close out the first half, adding it to his three previous conversions. Bielle-Biarrey was composed in the first 40 minutes but then sent winger Pablo Uberti into the corner, before scoring himself to restore Bordeaux’s lead in Pool Three, which continued to change direction.
Trenholm’s rapid double strike and Bielle-Biarrey’s second try completed the scoring, leaving both sides with five tries for the evening. In the closing stages, both sides had chances for points. Gloucester opted to kick the penalty into touch rather than at the posts and lost possession, while Bordeaux failed to capitalise on a scrum in Gloucester territory.
Gloucester head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire: “I am really proud of the lads.” He added: “We said we wanted to attack Bordeaux, impose our game on them and I can only be positive about the way the boys executed that.” Skivington highlighted: “It’s a strange feeling at the moment because there were opportunities for victory, and we probably gave them a few easy outs in the first half when we really had them under pressure.” He concluded: “It’s perhaps just a bit of learning for us at that level of intensity and the small margins that make a big difference. Being in the lead for large parts of the game, falling behind and getting back in front shows huge character and what we want to stand for this year. It’s a strange feeling at the moment because everyone in the changing room knows we could have won. It was a fierce battle.”
Gloucester lined up: Barton; Joseph, Llewellyn, S Atkinson, Loader; C Atkinson, Robson; Bleuler, Lake (captain), C Knight, Kleyn, Clark, Gwynne, Morgan, Clement. Substitutes used: Blake, Rapava Ruskin, Salt, Thomas, Trenholm, Ludlow, Englefield and W Knight. Bordeaux Begles played with: Rayasi; Uberti, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Lucu (captain), Page-Relo; Poirot, Lamothe, Falatea, Woki, Tameifuna, Gazzotti, Matiu, Willis. Reserves were: Sa, Perchaud, Pkhakadze, Zapedowski, Bochaton, Ibsaiene, Mousques and Buros. The match referee was Gianluca Gnecchi from Italy, assisted by Franco Rosella and Dario Merli, with Matteo Liperini as TMO.
