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Exeter's miserable season hits new low with record Champions Cup loss
By PA
Exeter’s miserable season continued as they were left on the verge of elimination after suffering a record Investec Champions Cup defeat as Bordeaux-Begles destroyed them 69-17 at Sandy Park.
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Chiefs need a landslide bonus-point win in their final pool fixture against Ulster to have any chance of reaching the last-16, but an early exit still beckons because of their poor points difference.
A month after they shipped 64 points on home soil at the hands of tournament favourites Toulouse, the Chiefs were handed another lesson.
It was Exeter’s 12th defeat from 13 Premiership and Champions Cup starts this term, and the most points they have conceded at home since gaining top-flight status in 2010.
French Top 14 leaders Bordeaux cut loose during a dominant first half that saw captain Maxime Lucu claim a try double, while wing Damian Penaud, replacement Louis Bielle-Biarrey and hooker Maxime Lamothe also touched down.
Fly-half Matthieu Jalibert kicked three conversions, and Exeter could only muster a breakaway Paul Bampoe-Brown try in response.
The second period was similarly one-way traffic, with Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey each adding their second tries, before Penaud completed a hat-trick, while Jalibert, Cyril Cazeaux and Yann Lesgourgues also crossed. Jalibert finished with seven conversions for a 19-point haul.
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Exeter, meanwhile, managed two tries for Brown-Bampoe and one by Ben Hammersley, plus a Henry Slade conversion.
Bordeaux made the early running, camping inside Exeter’s 22 and gaining a handful of penalties that meant a team warning on discipline from referee Ben Whitehouse to Chiefs skipper Dafydd Jenkins.
Just when it looked as though Exeter were bound to concede a try, Bordeaux were rocked back on their heels when Brown-Bampoe scored following an 80-metre touchline sprint.
The visitors responded quickly, though, and they went ahead two minutes later when centre Yoram Moefana made a sharp outside break, allowing Lucu a simple finish, with Jalibert converting.
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Exeter’s defence was quickly breached again, with Lucu the architect of a sweeping move taken on at pace by full-back Romain Buros, before Penaud crossed unopposed and Jalibert converted.
Chiefs saw Hammersley go off for a head injury assessment early in the second quarter, while Buros departed through injury and was replaced by France international back Bielle-Biarrey.
Exeter regrouped strongly after Bordeaux’s double try-burst, enjoying a spell of territorial dominance as ball-carriers like Ethan Roots and Jacques Vermeuelen made their presence felt.
But Bordeaux possessed far greater firepower in attack, and they extended their lead nine minutes before half-time when Penaud ghosted past three Exeter defenders and sent Lucu in for his second try of the game, again converted by Jalibert.
And Bordeaux piled on the agony just before half-time as Bielle-Biarrey rounded off another blistering attack, securing a bonus-point, then Lamothe touched down after a lineout drive to leave Exeter 31-5 adrift at the interval.
There was no let-up for Exeter, and Bielle-Biarrey set up try number six, scored by Penaud, as Chiefs’ painful damage-limitation exercise continued.
Brown-Bampoe’s second try at least halted the Bordeaux points flow, yet normal service was quickly resumed when Cazeaux applied the finish to another fine attack before Jalibert’s touchline conversion made it 43-12.
Bielle-Biarrey added his second try, which was followed by a searing Penaud break that sent Jalibert over, before Lesgourgues completed a remarkable scoring burst of three tries in five minutes.
Bordeaux had replacement prop Toma Taufa sent off for a high challenge 11 minutes from time, then Hammersley claimed a consolation try, but Penaud’s hat-trick score completed the rout and Chiefs were left to reflect on another sobering experience during a campaign to forget.
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