Gloucester and defending champions Bordeaux Begles share a 36‑36 draw in Champions Cup opener

Gloucester and the reigning Champions Cup winners Bordeaux Begles opened the season’s competition with an exhilarating 36‑36 stalemate at Kingsholm. The French side, aiming for a third consecutive title, seemed on the brink of their first defeat since a quarter‑final loss to Harlequins in April 2024.

Bordeaux trailed 24‑17 at halftime and fell further behind 36‑29 early in the second half when Gloucester substitute Will Trenholm crossed the line twice, giving the league leaders a temporary edge. France winger Louis Bielle‑Biarrey answered quickly with his second try of the match, converted by Maxime Lucu, and neither team could find a decisive moment in the closing stages.

The game began with a moment of silence for Lions lock Hyron Andrews, who died at the age of 31 on the Friday before his team’s match in La Rochelle. The Lions will honor him in their upcoming fixture, and additional tributes are planned throughout the opening round of the tournament.

Gloucester’s three first‑half tries were largely built on a strong scrum, though they had to recover twice to finish the half with a seven‑point lead. Bordeaux scrum‑half Martin Page‑Relo opened the scoring inside five minutes, but the hosts replied through Arthur Clark and Max Llewellyn. Sipili Falatea, after a powerful carry by Tom Willis, leveled the score, and Bordeaux captain Maxime Lucu put his side ahead with a penalty from his own half. Gloucester then capitalised on sustained pressure when George Barton powered over from close range, and full‑back George Barton added a penalty and three conversions before the break.

In the second half, Bielle‑Biarrey, quiet in the first forty minutes, sent teammate Pablo Uberti into the corner before scoring himself to restore Bordeaux’s advantage in the seesawing Pool Three clash. Trenholm’s rapid double and Bielle‑Biarrey’s second try brought the total to five tries each, with both sides also creating late point‑scoring chances. Gloucester chose to kick a penalty to touch rather than attempt a goal and lost possession, while Bordeaux failed to convert a scrum in Gloucester territory near the end.

After the match, Gloucester head coach George Skivington praised his squad’s resilience on BBC Radio Gloucestershire: “I’m really proud of the lads. We said we wanted to attack Bordeaux, put our game on them and I can only be positive about the way the boys did that. It’s a funny feeling right now because there were opportunities to win the game and we probably gave them a couple of easy outs in the first half when we really had them under pressure. Maybe that’s just a bit of learning for us at that intensity and the small margins that make a big difference. To be leading for large chunks of the game, to go behind and come back to lead again shows massive character and shows what we want to stand for this year. Right now, it’s a funny feeling because we all know in the changing room that we could have won that game. It was a fierce contest.”

Line‑ups

Gloucester: Barton; Joseph, Llewellyn, S Atkinson, Loader; C Atkinson, Robson; Bleuler, Lake (c), C Knight, Kleyn, Clark, Gwynne, Morgan, Clement. Replacements: Blake, Rapava Ruskin, Salt, Thomas, Trenholm, Ludlow, Englefield, W Knight.

Bordeaux Begles: Rayasi; Uberti, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle‑Biarrey; Lucu (c), Page‑Relo; Poirot, Lamothe, Falatea, Woki, Tameifuna, Gazzotti, Matiu, Willis. Replacements: Sa, Perchaud, Pkhakadze, Zapedowski, Bochaton, Ibsaiene, Mousques, Buros.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy) with assistants Franco Rosella and Dario Merli (Italy) and TMO Matteo Liperini (Italy).