Nantes (AFP) – Bordeaux-Bègles, weakened by international duplication and injuries, was logically beaten by Vannes 23-14 on Sunday during the 9th day of Top 14, a match played in front of 35,000 people at the La Beaujoire stadium in Nantes.
Published on: 08/11/2026 - 17:30
For Bordeaux, which had four consecutive victories in the Top 14, this was a poor performance. After a defeat in Perpignan, the reigning European champions are definitely struggling to win among the poorly ranked teams.
The Bretons sign their second success of the season after a victory against Clermont and are closer to 13th in the standings, finding themselves five points behind Castres.
In a sold-out La Beaujoire de Nantes stadium, the Vannetais made a good start against a Bordeaux team deprived of seven internationals retained with the XV of France, namely Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea, Jefferson Poirot and Cameron Woki.
After a long sequence of shelling, RCV opened the scoring with a strong try from Argentinian international 2nd row Matias Alemanno (10th).
The Bordelais were deprived of balls and had difficulty getting out of their 22 meters, but the Vannetais struggled to score. In the cold of Nantes, the match fell into a false rhythm with a number of approximations. Finally the score at halftime was 7-6 for Vannes with two penalties from fly-half Joseph Laharrague.
At the restart, the RCV scrum took over that of the UBB and Cotarmanac'h gave a little air with a penalty (10-6, 48th), but Retière responded shortly after.
The second half was marked by a terrible head-to-head clash between international full-back Romain Buros and his teammate Daniel Du Plessis, causing a long interruption. Buros came out on a stretcher to applause.
As in the first half, Vannes dominated territorially but could not achieve anything. But after another good scrum, Argentine pillar Medrano scored a second try after video refereeing.
A try at the end of the match from Isbaiene allowed UBB to take a hypothetical defensive bonus point but on the return the Bretons captured the ball and after a judicious kick, Tabuavou scored a try which made the La Beaujoire public capsize with joy.
For the Bretons, it was the second relocation to a large stadium after a lost match against Stade Toulouse at Roazhon Park in Rennes.
mas/dar
© 2026 AFP
The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.
