ECC: Oh brother! Bourgoin hang on for scintillating shock win against London Irish

09 April 2009

London Irish 30 (12) Bourgoin 32 (9)

Top 14 strugglers Bourgoin kept their dreams of Heineken Cup qualification alive with a stunning 32-30 away win at London Irish in the European Challenge Cup.

The French side held on during a nerve-wracking finale to record a famous quarter-final victory against the Exiles, who had gone into the match as top seeds and on the back of a scoring bonanza during the pool stages.

European Challenge Cup - Pool results and tables

But Bourgoin belied their lowly league status and played with renewed confidence brought on by the recent back-to-back wins (over Montpellier and Dax) which have virtually secured their Top 14 status.

Thursday's win means they are now in the ECC semi-finals, and just one game away from what previously seemed an unlikely shot at Heineken Cup qualification - guaranteed for the competition's winners.

There was little between the two sides in a tense opening period, with the home side just shading it 12-9 at the interval thanks to four penalties from England full-back Delon Armitage. Two penalties from French scrum-half Morgan Parra and a 28th-minute drop-goal from fly-half Benjamin Boyet ensured Bourgoin stayed in touch, and the visitors then scored the game's opening try immediately after the restart when Anthony Forest touched down after good work from Yann Labrit, Bogdan Leonte and Jean-Phillipe Genevois following a quickly taken lineout.

Parra's conversion lifted Bourgoin four points clear but London Irish responded in feisty fashion and regained the lead on 55 minutes when outside centre Seilala Mapusua crashed over after a period of sustained attacking.

Armitage, who had earlier spurned an easy penalty, added the extras to give the Exiles a 19-16 advantage, but it was all-square three minutes later when Parra's third successful penalty left it with everything to play for in the final 20 minutes.

The international number nine - who is leaving Bourgoin to join Clermont Auvergne in the summer - then edged the visitors into a three-point lead when Chris Hala'Ufia's high tackle resulted in a yellow card and another successful penalty kick.

Bourgoin failed to score again during their period of numerical advantage and when Armitage slotted a 71st minute penalty to draw level again it seemed the momentum was finally back with the home side.

But this was a match that defied logic and the pendulum of fortune swung yet again, this time sparked by Boyet's second drop-goal, which re-established the Bourgoin lead with just eight minutes to go.

As the clock continued to run down the visitors then looked to have landed the knockout blow when Matthieu Nicolas intercepted Mapusua's pass to score under the posts with less than four minutes left of regulation playing time. Parra's conversion made it 32-22, and seemingly game over, but that was to discount a valiant late fightback by the hosts.

First, second row Nick Kennedy implausibly gave his side a lifeline with a last-minute drop-goal, and then - deep into injury time - flanker Steffon Armitage scored a try in the corner which was only awarded after consultation with the television official.

Up stepped brother Delon - who had already notched 17 points with his boot - to try and level the scores, but his conversion went wide with the last kick of the game to hand victory to Bourgoin in a match which few had dared to predict they would win.

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