Bordeaux Begles beat Bath 38-26 to reach Champions Cup final

Defending Champions Cup holders Bordeaux Begles advanced to the final with a 38-26 victory over English Premiership champions Bath in the semifinal at Stade Atlantique in Bordeaux on Sunday.

The match, delayed 10 minutes by driving rain that later eased, saw Bordeaux score five tries through Marko Gazzotti, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Maxime Lucu, Ben Tameifuna and Temo Matiu. Lucu converted all five and added a penalty. Bath responded with tries from Will Muir twice, Louie Hennessey and Tom Carr-Smith, with Finn Russell converting three.

Bordeaux struck first after 109 seconds when Damian Penaud broke the line and Gazzotti powered over. Bath leveled through Spencer's cross-kick to Muir, but Bielle-Biarrey restored the lead in the 15th minute. Muir's spectacular dive in the corner after Henry Arundell's support made it 14-12, yet Lucu's try under the posts and penalty gave Bordeaux a 24-12 halftime edge.

Bath narrowed the gap to five points early in the second half when Hennessey forced his way over following a spilled pass by Santiago Carreras near the line. A crucial lineout overthrow five meters out handed momentum back to Bordeaux. Moments later, Charlie Ewels received a yellow...