Bath player ratings vs Union Bordeaux Bègles | 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup

Bath Rugby’s long wait for European glory will continue after a 38 – 26 Investec Champions Cup semi final defeat to Union Bordeaux Bègles, falling short in what was their first appearance at this stage of the competition in 20 years.

Chasing a first title since the 1997/98 season, Bath made the worst possible start as Marko Gazzotti crossed inside two minutes. They responded immediately through Will Muir, who finished from a cross field kick to level the scores, but Louis Bielle-Biarrey restored the hosts’ advantage with a well worked score out wide.

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Bordeaux

38 - 26

Full-time

Bath

All Stats and Data

Muir struck again with an acrobatic finish in the corner to keep Bath within touching distance, but Bordeaux seized control before the break. Maxime Lucu finished a sharp attacking move under the posts and added a late penalty to give the hosts a 24 – 12 lead at half time.

Bath mounted a strong response after the interval, building sustained pressure inside the Bordeaux 22 before Louie Hennessey powered over, with Finn Russell converting to cut the deficit to five and set up a tense final quarter.

However, key moments slipped away. A dropped pass with the line open and a turnover penalty just metres out halted Bath’s momentum at critical times. Bordeaux then took control through their forward pack, with Gaëtan Barlot initially denied before Charlie Ewels was sent to the sin bin for a maul infringement.

From the resulting pressure, Ben Tameifuna powered over to extend the lead, before Temo Matiu added a late score to seal the result.

Despite a late push, Bath could not find another breakthrough as Bordeaux booked their place in the final, leaving the Premiership side to reflect on a missed opportunity to reach a first showpiece in a generation.

Here is how the Bath players rated.

1. Beno Obano – 7.5
Got on top of Carlu Sadie at scrum time in what was an impressive show of force that gave Bath a key foothold in the contest. Obano was one of Bath’s top performers during his 53 minutes on the pitch with 11 carries, several of which were hugely influential in the build up to Bath’s tries.

2. Tom Dunn – 6
Not quite as impactful as he would’ve hoped, the hooker certainly went looking for work during his 44 minutes on the pitch. Getting through 7 carries, 5 tackles (1 dominant) and generally hitting his markers at line-out time despite plenty of pressure from the UBB jumpers was a decent return.

3. Thomas du Toit – 8.5
Matis Perchaud was not the first loosehead that du Toit has taken to the cleaners and he won’t be the last. Staring down a contender for the Springbok number three shirt in Sadie, Thomas The Tank lay down a marker in every facet of play. Playing 73 minutes and topping the carry charts with 17 to go with his 9 tackles was a monster effort from the front rower.

4. Quinn Roux – 4
Did the bulk of his work around the breakdown but was quiet away from this facet of play. Carrying twice and making 9 tackles but importantly missing 4 was not quite what his side needed from him against one of the most physical packs in the competition.

5. Charlie Ewels – 6
Ultra physical in particular at maul time where both sides had their moments. Unfortunately for all of his good work, Ewels would eventually push beyond the limits to be shown a yellow card in the 66th minute. This would prove costly with Bordeaux capitalising two minutes later for what proved to be the score that put the result beyond doubt.

6. Josh Bayliss – 6
Dominated the line-out and got through a bundle of carries. However, it was Bayliss’s subtle handling skills that was important to his side’s ability to find gaps in the UBB defence.

7. Guy Pepper – 5
Industrious but uncharacteristically inaccurate. Getting bounced by Yoram Moefana early was a moment the backrow would want to have back but more pressing was his concession of two first half penalties. The second of which ensured that UBB added three points on the stroke of half time. Still for his errors, Pepper was at the forefront of several promising Bath attacks and was dominant defensively topping the tackle charts of his side before his departure in the 53rd minute.

8. Alfie Barbeary – 7
Bath’s all action eighth man could not have done more for his side in terms of workrate. Copping a high shot in the 24th minute, Barbeary came within a whisker of scoring his side’s second try only to be held up. Kicking on from here, he would top the carry and tackle charts for his side before being replaced in the 53rd minute.

9. Ben Spencer – 7.5
Built on the platform laid by his halfback partner with a kick pass that capitalised on UBB’s stretched defence to find Will Muir unmarked for Bath’s first try. Despite being under duress at the breakdown with UBB going particularly hard in this area, Spencer generally delivered clean ball. Tactically, his box kicking was central to the pressure Bath were able to exert with Muir in particular taking full advantage of the hang time.

10. Finn Russell – 5.5
Set in motion the wheels that led to his side’s first try with a pinpoint kick pass to Henry Arundell. Across the board, Russell generally took the right option in attack even when his side weren’t getting forward progress. Defensively it was a mixed bag for the normally solid operator making 12 tackles but crucially missing 8. From the kicking tee, his first two conversions were mightily challenging from the left hand touchline with one rebounding over and the other going just wide.

11. Will Muir – 8
Utterly harassed the UBB fringe defence, first with a perfect grab from Ben Spencer’s kick pass to get Bath up and running. His second try of the first half will be immortalised in highlight packages given just how spectacular it was. Racing around the edge of the Bordeaux defence, Muir shrugged off Maxime Lucu to dive in the corner keeping his foot an inch above the line. Away from the headline grabbing moments, Muir dominated the aerial exchanges and covered the back field well. Defensively he shut down attacks that came down his channel in particular in a one-on-one with Cameron Woki in the 65th minute. Unfortunately his day came to a premature end with what appeared to be an arm injury.

12. Ollie Lawrence – 6.5
Didn’t quite have the big impact moment that he is known for but there can be doubting his work rate that facilitated for those around him. Carrying hard into the teeth of the UBB defence, Lawrence tidied up a few loose plays for his side when the action could’ve come to a halt. Two of these moments came early in the second half when Bath were camped in the Bordeaux twenty-two, both times Lawrence held on to sloppy passes under intense duress to set up the next phase. Minutes later, Lawrence delivered the key pass that put his centre partner over the try that brought Bath back within a score.

13. Louie Hennessey – 7
Reinforced why so many see him as a future star for Wales in the test arena, the young centre didn’t look one bit out of place against elite international operators. Splitting Bordeaux’s defence early with a searing break, Hennessey put Damian Penaud in particular on notice. His footwork, power and finishing ability brought Bath right back into the contest when UBB were threatening to run away with the result.

14. Henry Arundell – 6.5
Defied gravity to pluck Finn Russell’s early kick pass which set the stage for Bath’s first potent attack into UBB’s red zone. Five minutes later, he was caught out of position by a superb Maxime Lucu pass which ultimately led to the reigning champions getting back on top. This moment aside, the winger was solid across the board with a few potential breakout moments only

15. Santiago Carreras – 7.5
A constant threat with ball in hand, the elusive Argentinean exploited a few cracks in the Bordeaux defence. Defensively, outside of being caught for the second try courtesy of his inside defenders biting in, Carreras was rock solid. Just clinging on to Louis Bielle-Biarrey on a few occasions, Carreras shut down certain tries for the most dangerous finisher in professional rugby.

Substitutes
16. Kepu Tuipulotu – 8
Brought huge impetus early in the second half with several muscular carries that made the hard yards in the build up to Hennessy’s try. His 9 carries and a turnover is a snapshot of just how impactful his performance was.

17. Francois van Wyk – 5
Continued Bath’s dominance at scrum time but was a tad quiet around the park.

18. Vilikesa Sela – 4
Came on for the final 7 minutes when UBB had just taken control and as such didn’t have much time time to impact proceedings.

19. Ted Hill – 4
Got through a handful of tackles and a couple of decent carries but struggled to match the precedent set by the starting backrow.

20. Sam Underhill – 4
Not quite the impact he would’ve been hoping for, perhaps reiterated why he is a better starter than bench option.

21. Tom Carr-Smith – 6
Scored a late try to give a more respectable and in truth fair representation of the match as a whole.

22. Tom de Glanville – 4
Very limited impact in place of the superb Will Muir.

23. Miles Reid – 4
Definitely brought work rate but the accuracy was missing with a key penalty concession that ultimately piled the pressure back on his side.