Category News

Investec Champions Cup Pool Two

Munster: (7) 31

Tries: Kelly, Haley, Quinn, Farrell, Beirne Cons: Crowley 3

Gloucester (3) 3

Munster got their Investec Champions Cup campaign back on track with a dominant bonus-point win over a stubborn Gloucester.

After a heavy defeat by Bath in their opening game, Munster kept their composure in a tight first half before pulling away in the second as the amount of defensive work Gloucester were forced into took its toll.

Dan Kelly scored the only try of the first period in which Gloucester prop Jamal Ford-Robinson was yellow-carded for a dangerous clearout on Jack Crowley.

Gloucester came into the game on a run of four consecutive wins including last week’s Champions Cup success over Castres, and George Barton’s third-minute penalty gave them the lead as they frustrated Munster with a stout defensive display in the opening 20 minutes.

But the hosts continued to apply the pressure and after Niall Scannell had gone close, full-back Haley made a break before offloading to the supporting Kelly who was tackled short of the line but was able to reach out to score.

Gloucester went down to 14 men after 32 minutes when prop Ford-Robinson was sin-binned for his ill-judged attempt to remove Crowley from the breakdown.

Crowley dusted himself off to take the penalty but missed the target from about 35 metres.

Munster pushed hard for a second try to extend their advantage before the break but after several phases near the line they were held up on the stroke of half-time as Gloucester’s defence again proved its worth.

But the hosts were bossing possession and territory and made it count early in the second period when a brilliant one-handed offload from centre Alex Nankivell found Haley who raced over.

The hosts maintained their momentum but struggled to put the stubborn Cherry and Whites away until the visitors were again reduced to 14 when James was yellow-carded for killing the ball as Munster attacked near the line with the score at 12-3 after 67 minutes.

That was the moment Gloucester’s impressive resolve crumbled and a quick tap penalty immediately paid dividends as Quinn muscled his way over for Munster’s third try.

Gloucester have three Prem matches before returning to Champions Cup action on 9 January with a trip to Edinburgh, followed by a home game against Toulon a week later.

Munster: Haley; Daly, Kelly, Nankivell, O’Connor; Crowley, Casey; Milne, Scannell, Ala’alatoa, Kleyn, Beirne, Ahern, O’Donoghue, Coombes.

Replacements: Barron, Wycherley, Bartley, Edogbo, Quinn, Patterson, Hanrahan, Farrell.

Gloucester: Barton; Hathaway, W Knight, M Knight, Russell; Atkinson, Austin; Bleuler, Innard, Ford-Robinson, Jordan, Clark, Basham, Taylor, Clement.

Replacements: Freeman-Price, C Knight, Fasogbon, Eite, Bokenham, James, Price, Cotgreave.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wal)

Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wal) and Adam Jones (Wal)

Investec Champions Cup Pool 4

Bordeaux Begles (31) 50

Tries: Jalibert 2, Poirot, Barlot, Jacobs, Uberti, Mousques, Bielle-Biarrey Cons: Jalibert 3, Carbery 2

Scarlets (14) 21

Bordeaux-Begles continued their Champions Cup dominance by easing to an eight-try victory over Scarlets.

The Welsh side took an unlikely lead through Fletcher Anderson, but the hosts responded with five first half tries, including two for in-form fly-half Matthieu Jalibert.

Henry Thomas kept Scarlets in touch, and while the defence put up more resistance after the break, the title holders crossed for three more tries.

Anderson’s second saw Scarlets in the hunt for a consolation bonus-point, but tired bodies could not find a way over the line.

With the hosts winning 13 of their last 15 European games, few had given a changed Scarlets side any hope of upsetting the French giants.

But they were uncharacteristically asleep in the opening stages as Scarlets started brightly in front of a packed Stade Chaban-Delmas.

They showed intent by turning down attempts at posts and it paid off as Anderson crashed over from a quick-tap penalty.

But no sooner had travelling fans finished celebrating and Bordeaux were back level, with Jalibert taking full advantage of a sloppy re-start to chip through, re-gather and touch down.

The skipper Jefferson Poirot added a close range effort soon after while a perfectly executed line-out gifted Gaetan Barlot a third score on 20 minutes.

The bonus-point arrived five minutes later when Scarlets paid the ultimate price for being caught offside. Jalibert conducted a devastating counter attack, linking up with France team-mates Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

Scarlets kept in the fight and the forwards showed great patience with Thomas eventually squeezing over.

Scarlets defended heroically in the second-half as both sides introduced their benches early.

And it took almost 20 minutes for Bordeaux to find a breakthrough after Sam Costelow held up an effort from a charging Temo Matiu.

Scarlets were reduced to 14 players with Jarrod Taylor’s sin-binning and the damage was almost instant with Pablo Uberti one of several players queuing up to score out wide.

Still a man down, Scarlets found their third try of the evening and it was another close-range effort from Anderson who is proving a valuable signing from Crusaders this summer.

But slim hopes of a comeback took a significant blow as some tired defence saw Xan Mousques power over, with his effort quickly followed by a break away from Bielle-Biarrey, with Joey Carbery’s conversion taking Bordeaux’s score to half a century.

Bordeaux-Begles fly-half Joey Carbery said:

“Thankfully we got the result, especially after going away to Bulls last week.

“Training and playing [with players like Jalibert] you get to see how special they are. It’s a privilege to be out here.

“To win in Europe is tough, especially at home we have to win these games, and I’m just thankful we have done that.”

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said:

“It is obviously disappointing that we didn’t get anything out of the game, we were fighting hard for that fourth try at the end.

“I can’t fault the effort of the boys, it was just our inaccuracies that hurt us out there, you can’t allow a side of the quality of Bordeaux easy ins and I felt we did that at times.

“Our forwards carried strongly, I thought Fletcher Anderson at eight was excellent, he has been a really good signing for us.

“When we were in their 22 we took our tries well, it was just frustrating that the game got away through our inaccuracies.”

Both sides return to festive league action before playing their final two Pool 4 games in January.

Bordeaux face Northampton Saints on Saturday, 10 January (15:15 GMT) and Scarlets welcome Pau in the day’s later kick-off (20:00 GMT).

Bordeaux-Begles: Mousques; Penaud, Uberti, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Page-Relo: Poirot (capt), Barlot, Falatea, Palu, Coleman, Jacobs, Vergnes-Taillefer, Matiu.

Replacements: Everitt, Perchaud, B Tameifuna, J Gray, Gardrat, Retiere, Carbery, R Janse van Rensburg.

Scarlets: J Davies; Lewis, Roberts, James, Mee; Hawkins, Blacker; Hepburn, Van der Merwe, Thomas, Douglas, Ball, Macleod (capt), Davis, Anderson.

Replacements: Elias, Mathias, H O’Connor, Lousi, J Taylor, A Hughes, Costelow, Page.

Sin bin: Taylor (56)

Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)

Assistants: Griffin Colby & Christopher Allison (South Africa)

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca described the build-up to Saturday’s victory over Everton as “the worst 48 hours” since he arrived at the club.

The Italian delivered a cryptic message in his post-match news conference despite the 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge courtesy of goals from Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto.

The three points, which lifted Chelsea back into the Premier League top four, might have improved the mood after defeat at Atalanta in the Champions League extended Chelsea’s winless run to four matches.

However, when asked about Gusto’s assist and overall performance, Maresca surprisingly revealed his frustration over the previous two days at the club.

“The way the players want to learn has been fantastic and this is the reason why I praise them – because with so many problems, they are doing very well after a complicated week,” he said.

“Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst because many people didn’t support us.”

Pressed on what he meant, the former Leicester City manager added: “Worst 48 hours since I joined the club because people didn’t support me and the team.”

When asked if he meant people internally at Chelsea, he replied: “In general. In general,” before clarifying when asked if it was aimed at fans or the media: “I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans.”

Maresca also highlighted Chelsea’s injury and suspension issues, pointing out they had been without star attacker Cole Palmer for much of the season, as well as losing key midfielder Moises Caicedo to a three-match ban and striker Liam Delap to two significant injuries.

“I really praise the players and the squad because we played 16 Premier League games, five of them without Moises Caicedo, 11 of them without Cole Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap,” he said.

“And this squad, no matter who is playing, they are doing fantastic. Today was five games in 12 days so for sure when you see Cole Palmer there, we said many times that he’s our best player but we play almost all season without our best player.

“We play five games in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo. This is the reason why I’m so happy for the players and it’s something that I would like people outside to appreciate because the effort from the players is fantastic.”

It was not immediately clear who or what caused Maresca to describe the past 48 hours as the worst of his time as Chelsea manager.

In that period, the Italian had returned with his staff and players from his native Italy after a match in Bergamo, held a training session at Cobham, attended a pre-match news conference where he appeared relaxed, and secured a win over in-form Everton.

It was not obvious whether any specific media reports had unsettled him, whether social media comments played a role, or if it was something more significant from within the club at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca only sought to deny that it was an issue related to the club’s fans, some of whom have still have yet to fully warm to him since he joined from Leicester in July 2024.