- Northampton 12-16 Bordeaux Bègles
- Saints’ winless run extends to 11 games
This year’s Heineken Champions Cup will hopefully supply more vintage contests and for Northampton there is currently no escaping the bitter taste of disappointment. Bottom of the table after the first three rounds of the Premiership and now without a win in 11 games, the Saints were ahead with six minutes remaining only for a freak late try to gift Bordeaux a priceless opening night victory.
When Matthieu Jalibert’s attempted match-levelling penalty bounced away off an upright it momentarily seemed as if the Saints might be set to enjoy a much-needed change of luck. Instead the home defenders failed to react sufficiently quickly and the ball bounced straight up for the lurking Santiago Cordero to follow up and dive over, with Jalibert’s conversion compounding Northampton’s pain.
