Bordeaux crushes Northampton 50-28 in a repeat of the Champions Cup final

Northampton, leaders of the Prem, received a European lesson from Bordeaux, the Champions Cup holder, in a repeat of last year’s final.

The Saints lost 28-20 in a tense and tense Cardiff encounter in May, but this time they were beaten by an impressive eight-try performance from the home side in a lively atmosphere.

Star Saints back row Henry Pollock was booed throughout by the emotional home support after his part in the final whistle brawl in Cardiff.

The in-form player had some great moments, scoring twice, but it was Bordeaux who pushed forward to exploit the gap in form.

The French side were faster, stronger and more creative as they produced a decisive display, with Fiji full-back Salesi Rayasi and striker Cameron Walke both scoring hat-tricks.

Saints lost influential fly-half Finn Smith before kick-off, but the Englishman certainly wouldn’t have made much of a difference against a Bordeaux side who have now won 24 of their last 27 home games.

Al-Riyasi landed the opener before the moment of Pollock’s inevitable play. The England striker found himself on the left wing, kicked forward and gathered to run and score before the boos fell silent from the stands.

Saints then struggled in the huddle, as prop Danilo Fischetti was overlooked, and fell behind when a man went down as Riasi exchanged passes with Damien Benaud to score.

Northampton were down to 13 men when flying winger Louis-Bel-Bearre was taken out late by Rory Hutchinson and were still a man short when scrum-half Martin Paige-Rillo sniped through a gap in the stretched defense to score a scintillating third goal.

Benaud set up Walke to score a bonus point just before half-time, and Al-Riyasi completed a world-class hat-trick early in the second half with a ridiculous run from his own half, dribbling past Saints defenders in his wake.

Walkie intercepted a pass to run on and score the second goal, before Tommy Freeman cut the lead with a brilliant finish after some coordinated pressing.

Bordeaux scored again easily though, as Wocke picked up the loose ball from the restart to score his third goal before Mathieu Jalibert’s second-half run made it 50 points on the hour mark.

Saints kept going, with Pollock scoring a brilliant second try from Hutchinson’s kick in the closing stages and Fischetti stretching to secure a potentially vital extra point.

Northampton have already qualified for the last 16, but could now face another testing trip away from home.