Ex-All Black sinks Top 14 playoff hopes of European champions Bordeaux

Former All Black and ex-Blues first five Harry Plummer has sunk the playoff hopes of European champions Bordeaux, who have missed the Top 14 playoffs after finishing eighth.

The Kiwi No.10 sunk a late drop goal to give Clermont a 34-31 lead in the 76th minute to cap off a heroic 19-point performance.

Plummer scored the opening try, kicked four conversions, one penalty and his match-winning drop goal to shock Bordeaux just weeks after they claimed European glory with a 45-19 win over Leinster.

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Despite the win, both Clermont and Bordeaux missed playoff qualification which for the European champions was a shock.

A slow start to the season with five losses in their first 11 games, followed by losing three of their last five proved to be fatal. They’ve lost the Top 14 final the last two seasons, finishing as runners up back-to-back.

“It’s very difficult to not see the club in the knockout matches, because we want to be a club that grows, especially when you see the images of the players with the Champions Cup trophy,” captain Maxime Lucu told Canal+.

“The league is so hard, we lost a lot points at the start of the season, later on and in the winter, which meant we had our backs to the wall.”

Star winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey said he felt “disgusted” for the fans after they failed to make the top six.

Pau will host Racing 92 before Stade Francias meets La Rochelle next weekend. The top two seeds, Montpellier and Toulouse, auto-qualified for the semi-finals.