Following Gloucester and Bordeaux-Bègles’ 36-36 draw in their Investec Champions Cup opener, here are our winners and losers from a thrilling game at Kingsholm.
Winners
Will Trenholm
The Gloucester back-row came off the bench as a replacement for Deain Gwynne after 57 minutes and was in the thick of the action from the outset.
Trenholm was a genuine super sub as he did not take long to make an impact in this encounter and four minutes after he entered the fray; he crossed the whitewash for a well-taken try.
The hard-working flanker continued to take the fight to Bordeaux-Bègles and it was a similar story when he dotted down in the left-hand corner after Seb Atkinson laid the groundwork in the build-up.
Despite only being on the field for 23 minutes, Trenholm’s brilliant contribution off the bench was recognised when he walked off with the official player-of-the-match award after the match.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey
The highly rated Bordeaux-Begles speedster struggled to get going in this encounter as he had an unusually quiet first half with the home side’s defence marking him closely during that period.
However, the France international came alive after half-time and his impact was felt soon after the restart when he found Pablo Uberti with a well-timed skip pass and the right wing rounded off out wide.
Five minutes later, Bielle-Biarrey found himself in space close to the Cherry and Whites’ try-line and swivelled through an opponents’ tackle before crossing the whitewash.
It was a similar story in the 62nd minute, when the 23-year-old gathered a pass from Maxime Lucu and dotted down again.
Bielle-Biarrey continued to ask questions of Gloucester’s defence and finished the match at fly-half during the closing 10 minutes when Lucu was shifted to scrum-half after Martin Page-Relo left the field.
George Barton
The 25-year-old full-back hit the ground running in this match as he proved a real threat with ball in hand while also catching the eye with a fine goal-kicking performance.
Barton could easily have been named as the player of the match as he did little wrong on attack and there was some concern amongst Gloucester fans when he received attention for an ankle injury late in the first half.
However, that was not too serious as he played on and continued to be influential, eventually gaining 75 attacking metres which included one clean break, four defenders beaten and a try for his efforts.
Barton finished the game with a 16-point haul after also succeeding with four conversions and a penalty.
Tom Willis
Willis laid down an early marker in this encounter when he set off on a barnstorming run off the back of a lineout drive which sent Gloucester hooker Dewi Lake tumbling.
Willis was stopped just short of the home side’s try-line but Sipili Falatea gathered from the ensuing ruck before dotting down.
The England international continued to ask questions of the Cherry and Whites’ defence and eventually finished the match with 26 metres gained which included seven defenders beaten.
However, he made his biggest impact on defence where he finished with a match-high 15 tackles made and he also made his presence felt at the breakdowns where he won a couple of turnovers.
Maxime Lucu
The champions’ captain was shifted from his usual scrum-half position to fly-half for this fixture but that did not affect his game as he was his usual influential self and came to the fore with a fine all-round performance.
Despite being without the services of a world class number 10, Lucu caught the eye with impressive game game management throughout.
His kicking out of hand was of a high standard throughout as he managed to put the ball in the right areas of the field and he also caught the eye with his playmaking skills which set up some try-scoring opportunities for his team-mates.
Apart from that, Lucu was also solid off the kicking tee and finished the match with an 11-point contribution courtesy of four conversions and a penalty.
Jack Morgan and Jack Clement
It’s fair to say that Gloucester won the back-row battle with Morgan and Clement leading their onslaught as they complimented each other with their different skill sets.
The Wales international was on the field for 67 minutes but emptied the tank during that time and showed his class with a brilliant all-round effort as he did well to win two crucial turnovers while also doing his bit as a ball carrier where he gained 24 metres.
Meanwhile, Clement did most of the damage with ball in hand which gave the home side good attacking momentum and his efforts kept UBB’s defence on their toes for the full 80 minutes.
Although he did not cross the whitewash, the 25-year-old gained a match-high 108 metres which included a clean break and two defenders beaten while he also shone on defence where he made nine tackles.
Losers
Ben Tameifuna
The big team news in the build-up to this encounter was the selection of burly Bordeaux-Bègles tighthead prop Tameifuna in the champions’ second-row.
That experiment from the champions’ head coach Yannick Bru meant their pack was considerably heavier but that did not give them an edge in the scrums as Gloucester held the upper hand in that department during the first half.
Tameifuna obviously did not win any lineout balls and although he was solid in the execution of his defensive duties – where made nine tackles – he also made little impact with ball in hand and was eventually replaced by Adam Zapedowski after 58 minutes.
Jefferson Poirot and Sipili Falatea
The visitors’ excellent scrummaging was one of their strengths when they won last year’s Investec Champions Cup but they found the going tough at the set-piece in the first half of this match.
Although Falatea went over for UBB’s second try, his efforts at scrum-time left a lot to be desired as he and his fellow starting prop Poirot were sent back-pedalling in that department on a few occasions in the opening half.
Matis Perchaud and Lasha Pkhakadze came on as their replacements early in the second half and there was a noticeable difference in UBBs scrummaging efforts.
Dewi Lake
Although the Wales international hooker was part of that impressive scrummaging effort from the home side, he had little influence in other areas during a 52-minute stint on the field.
Lake missed his jumpers at the lineouts on a couple of occasions during the opening half, made little impact as a ball carrier and despte putting his body on the line on defence, where he made seven hits, he missed two tackles with one of those on Willis eventually leading to Falatea’s try.
It was not surprising when Lake was replaced by Seb Blake early in the second half.
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Temo Matiu
Not a match the 25-year-old will remember fondly as he had little influence on proceedings in the back-row battle where Gloucester’s trio of Morgan, Clement and Gwynne got the better of Matiu, Willis and Marko Gazzotti.
While Matiu did his bit on defence, where he made seven tackles, he was less prominent on attack and finished with a meagre four metres gained during his time on the field.
After 48 minutes, the rookie France international was eventually replaced by Pierre Bochaton early who brought much more energy to the UBB cause.
READ MORE: Gloucester v Bordeaux-Begles: Result, scorers, match stats, line-ups