Northern | US

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

Clermont’s New Zealander fly half Harry Plummer kicks the ball during the French Top 14 rugby union match between Montpellier Herault Rugby and ASM Clermont Auvergne at the Septeo Stadium in Montpellier, southern France on November 1, 2025.
Comments
3 Comments

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Video Spacer

Segner v Fainga’anuku – battle between old friends | RP

Blues openside flanker Anton Segner tells the Aotearoa Rugby Pod about his clash with Crusaders hybrid Leicester Fainga’anuku, one of his oldest friends in New Zealand.

Watch now

Video Spacer

Segner v Fainga’anuku – battle between old friends | RP

Blues openside flanker Anton Segner tells the Aotearoa Rugby Pod about his clash with Crusaders hybrid Leicester Fainga’anuku, one of his oldest friends in New Zealand.

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.”

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

RugbyPass App Download

News, stats, live rugby and more! Download the new RugbyPass app on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) now!


Whether you’re looking for somewhere to track upcoming fixtures, a place to watch live rugby or an app that shows you all of the latest news and analysis, the RugbyPass rugby app is perfect.

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

3 Comments
B
B 1 hr ago

An ex SRPacific Blues #10 and part time AB's 1 cap injury cover Harry Plummer knocks the ERChampions Bordeaux out of the Top14 playoffs…


Maybe the result in some ways proves the article Ben wrote May 27… “Hurricanes vs Bordeaux Begles: European champs 10-point underdog against NZ's best”…that our comparatively minuscule competition has some merit thanks to our unwanted or retiree top tier rugby playing expats…

T
TT 53 mins ago

The unified global World Rugby Club Cup launching in June 2028 with


* 8 teams from the European Investec Champions Cup


* 7 teams from Super Rugby Pacific


*1 team from Japan Rugby League One


should settle (Mmmm? OK inform) any greatest club & competition discussion/ debate.

T
TT 1 hr ago

Plummer a prime example of the NZ coaching & selection clown shows since 2018 with this 10 star’ing in Europe that he chose because he wasn't given oppurtunity in the AB team (even while in the AB squad) while AB’s coaches & selectors struggle, & still, with the 10 position.


Hope Rennie has a better clue or 2.

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close