Having already won at the likes of Clermont Auvergne (when there was a crowd), Racing 92 and Castres and drawn at Montpellier in the past year, Bordeaux-Begles should travel to Bristol with confidence
However, they have only played two competitive matches in the past six months, edging their opening Top 14 encounter at home to Brive 25-20 before seeing off Edinburgh 23-14 in the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
When you compare that to Bristol’s exhaustive fixture list, which has involved eight matches at a rate of one every five days since the Gallagher Premiership restart on 14 August, they are going into the tie at Ashton Gate pretty undercooked.
Pat Lam has refused to hold anything back in his selection for Europe with the big guns like Semi Radradra given another run out and all the momentum is with them.
Santiago Cordero will be a danger man for Bordeaux-Begles on the right wing, while Cameron Woki is one to watch out for on the blindside.
But as long as they can find the switch that lit up stuttering performances early on against Newport Gwent Dragons and Northampton in their last two home games, there should only be one winner (Bristol best-priced for the win at 4/11)
