Cordero hat-trick helps Bordeaux rout Dragons
EUROPEAN CUP MATCH REPORT: A hat-trick of tries from wing Santiago Cordero was the catalyst for Bordeaux Begles as they demolished Dragons 47-8 at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Mahamadou Diaby, Maxime Lamothe, Matthieu Jalibert and Ben Lam also touched down in the empathic victory but it was the Argentinean who stole the show with his trio of scores.
A number of penalties against the Welsh side in the first half led to three tries for the hosts in the opening period.
Maxime Lucu’s took a quick tap and go after one such penalty, racing through the Welsh side's defence before a quick offload set up Diaby for the first try of the match.
Dragons responded with three from the boot of Josh Lewis, but it was the hosts would take control of the game in the latter stages of the first period.
A series of penalties six minutes before the interval finally paid dividends for Bordeaux as they battled their forwards battled through the phases before swiftly switching play to the wing, Cordero scoring in the corner.
In added time at the end of the first half – seconds after another penalty was awarded against Dragons – Hooker Maxime Lamont finished a well-worked line-out to dive in at the corner.
If the end of the first half put the Welsh side in a pickle it was further compounded by two tries in the opening five minutes of the second period.
15 seconds it took for Cordero to score his second try of the match, Diaby in the action again as he recovered the second half kick-off from Dragons before relaying the ball to Cordero who scampered home.
Minutes later Jalibert added a score of his own – capitalising on a loose ball from a Dragons tackle. The French international flyhalf then turned provider for Cordero as the Argentinean produced a stunning run and finish to complete his hat-trick.
Dragons scored a consolation in the final 10 minutes thanks to a try from Nick Tompkins, but there was still time for Bordeaux to run in arguably the try of the match as Ben Lam finished of a scintillating passing move.
The sides will once again lock horns in Champions Cup action when the competition returns in January.
The scorers
For Bordeaux-Bègles
Tries: Diaby, Jalibert, Cordero 3, Lamothe, Lam
Cons: Jalibert 5, Botica
For Dragons
Try: Tompkins
Pen: Lewis
Teams
Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Yoram Falatea-Moefana, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Mahamadou Diaby (captain), 6 Cameron Woki, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Thierry Paiva.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Zakaria El Fakir, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Jules Gimbert, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Pablo Uberti.
Dragons: 15 Josh Lewis, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Davies (captain), 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Conor Maguire, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Aneurin Owen, 23 Owen Jenkins.
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini (France), Cedric Marchat (France)
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin (France)
Source: @ChampionsCup