Ex-Brumbies No 8 Pete Samu scored two tries to help Bordeaux-Begles to a 42-28 victory over Leicester in the Champions Cup on Sunday.
Bordeaux, sitting second in the Top 14 behind Pool 1 rivals Toulouse who play Ulster later in the day, ran in six tries in total, France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert successful with all the conversions.
Leicester lock Harry Wells burrowed over for the game’s opening try in a high-tempo first 10 minutes of an entertaining match.
Samu hit straight back for the home side, showing a clean pair of heels from 40 metres after a clever inside ball from Jalibert.
Leicester regained the lead at a sell-out 32,000-capacity Stade Chaban-Delmas when Josh Bassett touched down in the corner.
Guido Petti scored from a lineout, the Argentina lock taking a short ball and squirming past Joe Heyes. French lock Come Joussain then scored to leave Leicester 21-14 up at the break.
Bordeaux came out a different side in the second period, France back Louis Bielle-Barrey crossing for a double either side of a second try for Samu within 10 ultimately decisive minutes.
Nicolas Depoortere then got Bordeaux’s sixth.
Leicester left France with an attacking bonus point, however, as Australian centre Izaia Perese grabbed his team’s fourth try with the final move of the match.
In other games, All Black star Jordie Barrett marked his Leinster debut with a try in their 35-12 win at English side Bristol on Sunday while defending champions Toulouse produced a stunning opening to their Champions Cup campaign as they hammered Ulster 61-21.
Barrett was named on the bench at Ashton Gate where US star Ilona Maher, who has just signed for Bristol’s women’s team, was in the stands but he made a difference as soon as he came on at the start of the second half as a replacement for Ciaran Frawley when the scores were tied up at 7-7.
Leinster, who have reached eight previous finals winning four, got their noses in front in this Pool 2 encounter in the 54th minute when Sam Prendergast glided in under the posts for a superb try, the first of three in five minutes.
“It was nice to get a feel for the match… I was chomping at the bit to get the opportunity to play,” Barrett told Premier Sports after the match
“Leinster’s reputation in Europe is a big part of why I wanted to come here. I wanted to test myself in these games and I loved it.”
Six-times champions Toulouse ran in nine tries at a packed Stade Ernest-Wallon to take a bonus point from their Pool 1 game against Ulster with French stars Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack both touching down.
There were also two tries each for France lock Emmanuel Meafou and Italy wing Angel Capuozzo, the others coming from Matthis Lebel, Santiago Chocobares and a last minute penalty try.
