Pollock at the double as Saints salvage try bonus point in Bordeaux

Two teams who had pocketed 10 points from a possible 10 in this season’s pool stages squared up at a raucous, sold-out Stade Chaban-Delmas, but it was fast and furious Union Bordeaux Bègles who again prevailed against Saints, as they had done in Cardiff back in May.

The home side were full of power and pace, threatening to put Saints to the sword before the second half even started as they moved into a 24-7 lead by the break, earning a try bonus point in the process.

Pollock, who had hogged the headlines in the build-up to the game after Bordeaux players targeted him following the final last year, was greeted with loud boos every time he touched the ball.

And the ire of the home supporters reached fever pitch when Pollock scored in the 10th minute, chipping ahead and gathering before performing a swallow dive and booting the ball into the crowd, sparking a melee on the field of play.

That was the only joy Saints had in a hugely difficult first half, during which they lost Danilo Fischetti and Rory Hutchinson to yellow cards.

After the break, Saints came out and conceded two tries inside the opening six minutes of the second half, ensuring any chance of a memorable comeback win was gone.

A try bonus point was still up for grabs, especially when Tommy Freeman dived over for his team's second try with 32 minutes still to play.

And Saints did manage to take a point home with them as further tries from Pollock and Fischetti ensured they would claim some late consolation.

Pollock had been the big talking point prior to the match, and his name was greeted with loud jeers from the majority of the crowd during the team announcement at Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Pollock's first touch of the ball was greeted with a similar reception, with Saints trying to engineer some early attacking moves amid the noise.

A couple of knock-ons, one in each half of the field, halted their progress though, allowing Bordeaux to pile some early pressure on.

Saints did well to resist an initial surge after Bordeaux landed a lineout five metres from the away line, sending their big ball carriers up the middle.

Alex Mitchell was able to clear, but it wasn't long before Bordeaux were back on the attack, creating a masterful move that almost resulted in Cyril Cazeaux scoring under the posts.

But Bordeaux did have their try after cranking up the heat at scrum time, pushing Saints back before opening up the play for full-back Salesi Rayasi to run the ball in for a try.

Martin Page-Relo missed the conversion and Saints responded superbly, with Pollock producing one of his highlight reel moments on the big stage.

The Saints flanker chipped ahead and beat Damian Penaud to the ball before performing a swallow dive to score.

Pollock kicked the ball into the crowd, sparking a scrap, but Anthony Belleau kept calm to slot the simple conversion from in front of the posts to give Saints the lead.

Bordeaux's physicality didn't just extend to brawls though as their scrum was proving to be a real weapon, earning them penalties in dangerous field position.

Saints skipper Callum Chick took the warning for his team as they continued to infringe at the scrum, with noise echoing around the stadium, putting pressure on the officials to dish out a card for what the home fans felt was persistent offending.

Eventually Italian referee Gianluca Gnecchi gave in to the pressure, giving Fischetti a yellow card after another scrum broke down in Bordeaux's favour.

Just as it looked like Saints may finally be able to escape, having finally won a scrum penalty of their own, they lost the lineout, inviting Bordeaux to come again.

And come again they did as the engineered a fine move that resulted in Penaud sending Rayasi over for his second try of the match.

Page-Relo made amends for his earlier miss with a fine conversion from the right touchline, taking his team into a 12-7 lead.

It was all Bordeaux and they added to their lead through some excellent innovation from Page-Relo as he slipped past JJ van der Mescht to score.

The scrum-half also added the conversion to make it 19-7 before Saints threatened a response, with Freeman breaking through, but after his long pass found Ollie Sleightholme, the wing kicked ahead and was beaten to the ball.

Bordeaux were soon back at the black, green and gold door, piecing together another rapid move that resulted in Penaud setting up Cameron Woki, who cut inside to claim his side's bonus-point effort four minutes before the break.

It left Saints with a huge task ahead of the second half as the sun started to set on Stade Chaban-Delmas, and things got even harder two minutes after the break as Rayasi bamboozled the away defence and ran in for his hat-trick try from close to halfway.

Page-Relo added the extras and at 31-7, the home side had a huge amount of breathing space in a stifling atmosphere for Saints.

Things were unravelling quickly for Saints as Hutchinson's pass was picked off by Woki, who the referee deemed to have knocked the ball backwards rather than forwards before gathering to score.

Page-Relo added the extras and things were starting to get ugly.

Saints thought they'd scored when Alex Coles went over, but the referee pulled play back, instead awarding the black, green and gold a penalty.

They kept their foot on the gas and eventually got the job done as Freeman powered over for his team's second score.

Belleau converted, but Saints failed to deal with the restart, allowing Woki to cruise in for his hat-trick score.

Page-Relo converted and Bordeaux had their sights set on a half-century of points as their supporters kept the decibel levels high.

Bordeaux made it to 50 points when Saints lost the ball in contact, allowing Matthieu Jalibert to charge in for a try before performing the 'cold' celebration made famous by Chelsea and England footballer Cole Palmer.

Saints were still doing their best to salvage something from a difficult day, but they knocked on twice close to the Bordeaux line to prevent a third score.

The away side did have their third try of the game when Hutchinson placed a lovely grubber kick in the path of the onrushing Pollock, who beat Penaud to the ball and grounded it superbly.

Belleau added the extras with aplomb and Saints kept coming, with Pollock taking a penalty quickly and forcing Arthur Retiere to tackle him, earning the Bordeaux replacement a yellow card.

That gave Saints a chance to keep pushing on, and Fischetti showed his power as he got the ball down to deliver the bonus-point try.

Bordeaux celebrated as the final whistle was blown, but Saints had at least added to their pool-stage tally after a tough trip to the European champions ahead of next Sunday's home clash with Scarlets.

Union Bordeaux Bègles: 15 Salesi Rayasi; 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana (Rohan Janse van Rensburg 58), 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Matthieu Jalibert (Joey Carbery 62), 9 Martin Page-Relo (Arthur Retiere 50); 1 Jefferson Poirot (Matis Perchaud 50), 2 Maxime Lamothe (c) (Gaetan Barlot 50), 3 Carlü Sadie (Ben Tameifuna 50). Adam Coleman, 5 Cyril Cazeaux (Boris Palu 62); 6 Jean-Luc du Preez (Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer 50), 7 Cameron Woki, 8 Temo Matiu.

Saints: 15 George Hendy; 14 Edoardo Todaro, 13 Tommy Freeman (Toby Thame 77), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme; 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Alex Mitchell (Archie McParland 53); 1 Danilo Fischetti (Emmanuel Iyogun 17), 2 Craig Wright (Robbie Smith 40), 3 Trevor Davison (Elliot Millar Mills 46); 4 Alex Coles (Chunya Munga 71), 5 JJ Van Der Mescht (Ed Prowse 40); 6 Callum Chick (c) (Sam Graham 58), 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Henry Pollock.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)