{"id":687689,"date":"2026-05-22T16:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687689\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T16:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:45:09","slug":"leinster-desperate-to-tear-up-bordeauxs-script-in-champions-cup-final-cauldron-champions-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687689\/","title":{"rendered":"Leinster desperate to tear up Bordeaux\u2019s script in Champions Cup final cauldron | Champions Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a very different feel when Leinster last came to Bilbao for a Champions Cup<\/a> final. In 2018 it was wet, grey and could have passed for Ballsbridge in March. Not so this time with temperatures in the mid-30s and another baking afternoon in store for their rendezvous with the warm \u2013 in every sense \u2013 favourites Bordeaux-B\u00e8gles.<\/p>\n

When Leinster\u2019s fair-skinned head coach, Leo Cullen, walked out for the eve-of-match captain\u2019s run it was reminiscent of a David Attenborough film featuring a lone polar bear on a fast-melting iceberg. There will be no hiding place for heavy tight forwards, a factor exacerbated by the game kicking off in mid-afternoon. Apparently an evening slot was impossible for French TV because of a clash with \u2013 wait for it \u2013 the Cannes film festival closing ceremony.<\/p>\n

Which leaves both sides facing an energy-sapping challenge on a playing surface where the dimensions are tighter than normal. Rugby fields are usually 100m long and at least 70m wide but the San Mam\u00e9s pitch is shorter and narrower. If Leinster are to claim an elusive fifth Champions Cup, eight years after their fourth, they will have to do it the hard way.<\/p>\n

Nor does it help that French sides have won the last five editions. Since their narrow 2018 win over Racing 92<\/a>, Leinster have lost four finals in this tournament, the last three to French opposition in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Admittedly the margins have been tiny, with the two games against La Rochelle settled by four points combined, and the 2024 final against Toulouse<\/a> at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium going to extra-time, but the trend is hard to ignore.<\/p>\n

The Bordeaux<\/a> attack coach, Noel McNamara, also knows Leinster\u2019s leading players inside-out, having coached Caelan Doris at age-group level and taught Dan Sheehan maths at Clongowes Wood College. For good measure the opposition ranks include the world\u2019s deadliest finisher in Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who has scored 32 tries in 30 games for club and country this season.<\/p>\n

It sets up a potentially absorbing clash of styles: Leinster\u2019s organisation and work-rate against Bordeaux\u2019s lightning-quick attacking game and ability to strike from distance. As Bath found in the semi-final it is one thing applying pressure on Bordeaux, quite another to keep them at arm\u2019s length when they have the ball. UBB also possess Europe\u2019s most fleet-footed No 10 in Matthieu Jalibert and the combined brain and boot of Maxime Lucu, a proud Basque who makes everything tick. \u201cHe is the king of the Basque region,\u201d said his coach, Yannick Bru, after the Bath semi-final<\/a>. \u201cI know it means a lot for him to play in the final in Bilbao near his home.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the success of a trio of Basque football managers \u2013 Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery and Andoni Iraola \u2013 in recent days is any guide it could well require something out of the ordinary to deny the shaven-headed Lucu his heart\u2019s desire. His opposite number Jamison Gibson-Park, the fulcrum of Leinster\u2019s tactical game, will have to be at his sharpest.<\/p>\n

The proud Basque scrum-half Maxime Lucu (right) helped to orchestrate Bordeaux\u2019s semi-final success against Bath. Photograph: Icon Sport\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Arguably the key tactical influencer, though, is Jacques Nienaber, hired by Leinster to make them a more suffocating defensive unit in big games like this. Having previously been involved in guiding the Springboks to World Cup glory, this would be a good weekend to silence those who feel Leinster\u2019s all-round game has stagnated during his time in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Shutting down the best attacking unit in Europe would help to alter perceptions and erase the strangely bitter aftertaste of the semi-final win against Toulon, when Cullen criticised the media for what he saw as their overly negative coverage of Leinster. It was an interesting way to celebrate reaching a final, and almost certainly pre-meditated, but if it helps to foster a siege mentality among his players so much the better.<\/p>\n

This, though, has been a season in which France\u2019s top players have generally found the answers to even the most searching questions. No-one seems to mention Damian Penaud since he was dropped from France\u2019s Six Nations squad but he remains an irresistible force. Nor do they dwell overly long on Bordeaux\u2019s forwards, other than the gargantuan Ben Tameifuna, which overlooks the sizeable talents of Cameron Woki, Marko Gazzotti and the hugely effective impact sub Temo Matiu.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Bielle-Bierrey, for good measure, scored twice in France\u2019s win over Ireland in Paris<\/a> back in February which helped propel Les Bleus to the Six Nations title. While Leinster have shoe-horned as much experience into their backline as possible, with Rieko Ioane on the left wing, Lucu\u2019s remarkable goal-kicking looms as another sizeable threat. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a serious challenge but it\u2019s what we want, isn\u2019t it?\u201d said Cullen. \u201cIt\u2019s about trying to deliver our best performance, because that\u2019s what it\u2019ll take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Win or lose he also hopes this showpiece will prove a timely advertisement for the tournament at a time of increased muttering about its structure and the ongoing participation of South African teams. \u201cHopefully the organisers protect it, because it\u2019s an incredibly special tournament,\u201d said Cullen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s just the URC or just the Top 14 or just the Premiership \u2026 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s good for rugby in general. The South African teams have added hugely to our domestic competition. They\u2019re still trying to figure out how they manage the Champions Cup with the travel and all the rest but they\u2019ll get better at it. They\u2019re quality teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the weather, it could yet be that the temperature ends up dropping a couple of degrees by kick-off but, regardless, Doris firmly believes the most energetic side in the last 20 minutes will be champions. \u201cTaking it to another level in the last quarter is going to be important,\u201d stressed Ireland\u2019s captain. Certain elements of the modern game never change, come rain or shine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a very different feel when Leinster last came to Bilbao for a Champions Cup final. In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-687689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687689","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=687689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}