{"id":687448,"date":"2026-05-22T14:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687448\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:05:17","slug":"leinster-v-bordeaux-begles-investec-champions-cup-final-team-news-predictions-match-officials-and-how-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687448\/","title":{"rendered":"Leinster v Bordeaux-Begles: Investec Champions Cup Final team news, predictions, match officials and how to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbarians<\/a><\/p>\n

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has announced his team that will battle Bordeaux-Begles for Investec Champions Cup glory at San Mames Stadium in Bilbao on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The major call from Cullen is leaving out Ireland international James Lowe as Rieko Ioane and Tommy O\u2019Brien are preferred as the wing options for the massive fixture.<\/p>\n

Hugo Keenan continues in the full-back jersey while Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose form a familiar centre partnership that will be looking to get the upper hand.<\/p>\n

Harry Byrne at 10<\/p>\n

Once again there\u2019s no spot in the 23 for Sam Prendergast as Harry Byrne is named at number 10, with the versatile Ciaran Frawley covering positions off the bench. Byrne is joined in the half-backs by the experienced Jamison Gibson-Park, who will lock horns with the outstanding Maxime Lucu<\/a> in what is the battle of this final.<\/p>\n

In the pack, Caelan Doris captains the side from number eight, with Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier on the flanks as Leinster look to add their fifth Champions Cup title.<\/p>\n

Joe McCarthy partners James Ryan in the second-row, while loosehead Andrew Porter and tighthead Thomas Clarkson scrum down either side of Dan Sheehan at hooker.<\/p>\n

\u2018Some bloke compared me to Putin\u2019 \u2013 Andy Goode lifts lid on semi-final \u2018backlash\u2019 and why Leinster have \u2018decent shot\u2019 of shocking Bordeaux-Begles<\/a><\/p>\n

Paddy McCarthy returns to the bench for his first appearance since January, with R\u00f3nan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong set to provide further solid front-row reinforcements.<\/p>\n

Diarmuid Mangan and Max Deegan wrap up the rest of the replacements in the forward pack as Luke McGrath, Frawley and Jamie Osborne complete Leinster<\/a>\u2018s matchday 23.<\/p>\n

Bordeaux team<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bordeaux-Begles have named a largely settled line-up as they look to defend their Investec Champions Cup<\/a> silverware in what promises to be a titanic contest.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Lucu continues alongside Matthieu Jalibert in the half-backs while Yoran Moefana and Damian Penaud once again link up in midfield as Nicolas Depoort\u00e8re remains out.<\/p>\n

France sensation Louis Bielle-Biarrey is one to watch on the left wing and there\u2019s a start on the other touchline for Pablo Uberti with Salesi Rayasi a real threat at full-back.<\/p>\n

Ben Youngs\u2019 Investec Champions Cup: My tip to win Bilbao final, the most absolutely awesome individual duel and a Combined Leinster-Bordeaux XV<\/a><\/p>\n

Up front, Jefferson Poirot, Carl\u00fc Sadie and Maxime Lamothe form a familiar front-row whilst their engine room consists of Boris Palu and Wallabies lock Adam Coleman.<\/p>\n

The back-row is Pierre Bochaton, Cameron Woki and Marko Gazzotti, with Lachie Swinton, Temo Matiu and Bastien Vergnes-Tailleferon bench options this weekend.<\/p>\n

Gaetan Barlot, Ugo Boniface and Ben Tameifuna provide the front-row injection for the closing stages while Arthur Retiere and Hugo Reus cover the backs for Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Bordeaux-Begles by 3!<\/p>\n

The teams<\/p>\n

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy O\u2019Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 R\u00f3nan Kelleher, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciar\u00e1n Frawley, 23 Jamie Osborne<\/p>\n

Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Pablo Uberti, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (c), 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Boris Palu, 3 Carl\u00fc Sadie, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Gaetan Barlot, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Lachie Swinton, 20 Temo Matiu, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Hugo Reus<\/p>\n

Date: Saturday, May 23
Venue: San Mames Stadium, Bilbao
Kick-off: 15.45 local (14:45 BST, 13:45 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU) 116th game
Assistant Referees: Ben Connor (WRU), Lucas Yendle (WRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
How to watch: Premier Sports \/ ITV \/ France TV \/ beIN SPORTS \/ epcrugby.tv \/ FloRugby \/ Movistar +<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Investec Champions Cup Final: Everything you need to know including how to watch, referees and Champions Rugby Village details<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has announced his team that will battle Bordeaux-Begles for Investec Champions Cup glory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,818,186111,6265,44,760,85],"class_list":["post-687448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-home-page","tag-investec-champions-cup","tag-leinster","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}