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Bordeaux-Begles fly-half Matthieu Jalibert
Bordeaux-Begles fly-half Matthieu Jalibert will be aiming to remain top of the Challenge Cup scoring charts when his side travel to face fellow French team Agen on Friday at 19:00 GMT.
The visitors sit second in Pool 3 with seven points – thanks in part down to the 31 points from Jalibert – while Agen are yet to get on the scoresheet.
Key facts
- Agen and Bordeaux have met once before in European competition, when Agen won the 1997 Challenge Cup quarter-final.
- Agen have lost 17 of their last 20 matches in the Challenge Cup, including their last four.
- Bordeaux are unbeaten in three Challenge Cup away matches but have never gone four without defeat.
- Agen have only scored 24 points in two matches, the lowest of any side in the competition.
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It was a spectacular performance from Bordeaux-Begles as they trounced Agen 73-3 at Stade Armandie in Pool 3 – thanks mostly to the ever-dangerous boot of Matthieu Jalibert.
The visitors got off to a flyer with six tries in the first half courtesy of Thierry Paiva, Geoffrey Cros, Lekso Kaulashvili, Marco Tauleigne, Jalibert and Seta Tamanivalu – with Jalibert converting five of them.
The second half continued in much the same vein, Nans Ducuing crossing in the first few seconds after the restart, Cros adding two more tries for his hat-trick and Romain Buros and replacement Jean-Baptiste Dubié also getting on the scoresheet.
Bienvenue à Armandie @UBBrugby ! 👋#SUAvUBB #J3ERCC pic.twitter.com/xGOX1vtEdv
— SUA LG (@agen_rugby) December 6, 2019
Jalibert was substituted 15 minutes into the second half, having added 17 points to take his tally to 48 so far this season.
Ben Botica took over kicking duties and proved just as reliable, notching two conversions.
A sixth-minute Raphaël Lagarde penalty gave Agen some consolation, but this defeat means they have now lost 18 of their last 21 matches in the Challenge Cup.
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