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Mogliano and Bordeaux-Begles face off in Round Two having both been beaten in their opening Amlin Challenge Cup fixtures a week ago. - 17/10/2013 12:22
Mogliano and Bordeaux-Begles face off in Round Two having both been beaten in their opening Amlin Challenge Cup fixtures a week ago.
Hosts Mogliano were hit for a half century as Newport Gwent Dragons ran riot at Rodney Parade.
The Welsh side scored seven tries in total and had the bonus point secured before half time but there were still plenty of positives for Mogliano to take back to Italy.
The minnows held the Dragons scoreless for the first 19 minutes of the second half and had conceded just a single try for much of the opening quarter in Newport. They also touched down for a score of their own through Tommaso Boni late on as they earned praise from home skipper Rob Sidoli.
Bordeaux-Begles’ qualification hopes were dealt a serious blow at the very first hurdle as Bath crossed the Channel with a hard-fought win on Saturday night.
The English side were 15-6 victors at the Stade Chaban Delmas, with Amlin Man of the Match George Ford ensuring Bordeaux ended the game empty handed thanks to his fifth and final penalty.
Raphael Ibanez, who was a Heineken Cup winner with London Wasps in 2007, will hope for a positive response in Italy but he knows his team are now likely to need another win on the road even if they do triumph in this one in Round Two.
Moglaino playmaker Matt Cornwell was among a number of key men who didn’t start his side’s first fixture in Wales, with the former England U21 captain suggesting that a huge focus was being placed on causing Bordeaux all sorts of problems instead.
“There's a lot of emphasis on the Bordeaux game. Hopefully we can cause an upset at home. We just want to pick up as many points as we can and improve from last season – that's the aim.”
Just picking up a losing bonus point would achieve that latter objective, with Mogliano yet to claim a single point in their seven continental fixtures since making their Amlin Challenge Cup debut 12 months ago.
Their three home games in their maiden campaign ended in a 59-12 defeat to Wasps, a 33-0 loss to the Dragons and a 54-0 reverse against Bayonne, but Bordeaux will hardly travel high on European confidence given that they haven’t won in the competition since doing the double over Rovigo back in December 2011.
Match facts
Mogliano are still waiting for their first win in this competition; they have lost all seven games so far by an average scoreline of 56-5.
The Italian side failed to score in their last two home games of the 2012/13 Amlin Challenge Cup campaign, only registering points in their opener against Wasps (12-59).
Bordeaux have lost their last nine in this tournament, a run which began following two wins over Italian side Rovigo in December 2011.
Bordeaux have won three of their four away games against Italian clubs in this competition (L1).
Mogliano and Bordeaux-Begles face off in Round Two having both been beaten in their opening Amlin Challenge Cup fixtures a week ago. - 17/10/2013 12:22
Mogliano’s wait for a European win goes on after Bordeaux-Begles secured their first victory of this year’s Amlin Challenge Cup with a 20-32 victory in Italy.
The hosts, who went down 50-8 to Dragons last week, were unable to prevent Bordeaux from getting a bonus point victory, much needed after their own disappointing result against Bath. Bordeaux outside half Nicolas Sanchez put 12 points on the board for his team and gave them the lead after a tetchy opening 15 minutes when he slotted over his first penalty of the day.
The hosts hit back four minutes later through full-back Nicolo’ Fadalti but weren’t level for long as Sanchez hit the target again to make it 3-6 to his side. Then came a disastrous two minutes for Mogliano, who suddenly found themselves 3-13 down. Matthew Graham grabbed the first try of the day before Sanchez knocked over the conversion to leave the Italian side struggling to stay in the game.
They were handed a lifeline on 32 minutes when Tai Tuifua was sent to the bin for a high tackle but in spite of playing with 14 men the visitors could have extended their advantage. Sanchez, though, missed a penalty with the last kick of the half.
Mogliano still had that 10 man advantage for the first two minutes of the second half and they exploited it to get back into the game. Matt Cornwell went over for his side’s first try and Fadalti converted to bring them within three points of Bordeaux.
The French side hit back 10 minutes later when Robert Lilomaiava grabbed a second try for his team. This time Sanchez missed the conversion but a more comfortable lead had been restored.
Again it wasn’t to last, and when Tomasso Boni went over on 57 minutes and Fadalti converted it brought the hosts to within a point. Now it was anyone’s game and with 15 minutes to go Mogliano took the lead for the first time when Sanchez slotted a penalty between the posts. Suddenly it looked like an upset was on the cards.
Bordeaux soon put paid to that though, and a penalty try, converted by Sanchez, put them back in front by five points.
The French side then went in search of a bonus point, which they got three minutes from time when Roman Lonca got their fourth and final try of the day. Sanchez converted and his side went away with five points as well as denying the hosts a losing bonus point of their own.
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