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Former All Black John Afoa expertly trolls opposition coach in the tunnel before Bristol Bears clash with Bordeaux
By Sam Smith
Former All Black prop John Afoa has expertly trolled Bordeaux Beagles coach Christophe Urios before his side’s European clash against the Top 14 club.
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The Bears replacement players were hyping up their squad in the tunnel as their starting line-up walked out onto the pitch before the Round of 16 fixture.
Bristol were raising the decibels and energy levels of their side, cheering, clapping and getting gee’d up for their much anticipated clash when unfortunately for Urios, he pre-maturely entered the Bears’ line-up walking out.
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Flanked on either side by the Bears players, the opposition coach had no choice to but to walk the line and subject himself to the pre-match hype of the team his side would be playing.
Sensing an opportunity to wind up Urios, John Afoa cheekily smacked Urios on the backside as he walked by much to the surprise of the Bordeaux coach.
Celui qui fait une tape sur l'épaule d'Urios, je crois qu'il tient pas trop à la vie pic.twitter.com/CogsiJECDu
— Paul-Antoine Leclercq (@PA_Leclercq) April 4, 2021
With more Bears players behind him, Urios had to keep walking but tried to look around to see who had given him the tap but couldn’t figure it out in the commotion.
Unfortunately for Bristol, their European hopes were ended on the night as the French powerhouse went on to win 36-17 on the back of a controversial second half which featured yellow cards and TMO decisions.
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The Premiership’s top club were on the wrong end of a number of calls which frustrated the visiting side.
In the lead-up to a crucial Bordeaux try, Bristol felt there had been a knock-on when Scott Higginbotham had stripped Semi Radradra of the ball which should have brought play back and kept them in the game.
“The whole bench were calling knock-on at the time, but we didn’t get the decision and we will just have to move on. We will leave it for Joel Jutge to sort out,” head coach Pat Lam said afterward.
The play was only reviewed from a limited number of angles before the try was awarded, to the frustration of Bristol captain Callum Sheedy.
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“We are frustrated because we know we were good enough to win that game. But this is what makes you stronger and sometimes you’ve got to get here and experience it.
“We genuinely had an opportunity to win that game and we are kicking ourselves. It is hard to take but it is what we’ve got to do.”
French flyhalf Matthieu Jallibert scored 22 points for Bordeaux, while it was a rather quiet night for star centre Radradra against his former club.
Bristol were hoping to make the final eight of the European competition for the first time in history but will now have to re-group and set their sights on the Premiership where they currently sit in first place after fifteen games.
