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🇫🇷 France /Sports

UBB and Racing 92 bring heavyweight lineups to Chaban-Delmas

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Sources not specified Context piece
  • Union Bordeaux-Bègles will host Racing 92 in the first major Top 14 matchup of the season.
  • UBB coach Yannick Bru selected a strong lineup featuring Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu.
  • Racing will start former Toulouse player Paul Costes at center, with Nolann Le Garrec absent through injury.

Union Bordeaux-Bègles are opening the season with their strongest available artillery. At Chaban-Delmas, the reigning European champions face Racing 92 in the first heavyweight fixture of the Top 14 campaign.

Yannick Bru has selected Louis Bielle-Biarrey on the wing and retained his familiar halfback pairing of Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu, who captains the side. Damian Penaud, Nicolas Depoortere and Yoram Moefana complete a formidable-looking backline.

UBB missed last season’s Top 14 final phase despite winning the European title. Racing coach Patrice Collazo has responded by handing a starting place at center to Paul Costes, the former Toulouse player. Tristan Gibert and the experienced Maxime Machenaud form the halfback pairing because Nolann Le Garrec is injured.

The match pits two ambitious teams against each other at the start of the championship, with both coaches naming established players and notable recruits in their starting XVs.

About this summary

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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