Leinster 19 Bordeaux-Bègles 41

This time there was no Champions Cup final heartbreak for Leinster, just humiliation. In their previous four defeats at the final reckoning, the Irish province could look agonisingly to key moments when the pursuit of a fifth star fell just short.

But this was different. This time there could be no gnashing of teeth, no looking back ruefully at squandered opportunities. This time they came up alarmingly short against a Bordeaux-Bègles side who have, in the eight years since Leinster won the last of their Champions Cup crowns, established themselves as the new European superpower.

The manner in which they retained their title was, quite simply stunning, with all the damage done in a first half that yielded five converted tries, finished by their outstanding captain, Maxime Lucu, Pablo Uberti, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2) and Yoram Moefana.

They have not lost a Champions Cup game since being beaten by Harlequins in the quarter-finals during the 2023-24 season. The arrival of Tom Willis from Saracens will only strengthen their hand.

One wonders what the future holds for Leinster’s set-up now. Leo Cullen, their head coach, has a year left on his contract and does not appear to be under any pressure from within the organisation.

Neither does Jacques Nienaber, who was hired as senior coach to help push Leinster over the line in Europe after guiding South Africa to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023. Yet one suspects that next year’s World Cup could provide the stimulus for a coaching overhaul.

Bordeaux’s attack coach Noel McNamara, a native from Co Clare, would make for a strong contender, given the impact he has had at the Top 14 club.

On this evidence, Nienaber’s change in Leinster’s approach – with a focus on a pressure, kick and defence-orientated game, which has come at the expense of the attacking fluidity – has not paid off.

Leinster believed it was a price worth paying, that their aggressive defence and counter-rucking ferocity would be their point of difference, which made the manner of this defeat – at the venue where they won their last title – all the more galling.

“It’s very frustrating, because you want to give a better account of yourselves, don’t you?” said Cullen. “You want to have that ruthless mindset in terms of execution, where we’re just not quite there yet. On the flip side of that, how clinical were they?

“My big reflection, just in terms of how clinical Bordeaux were, is the speed the way they do things is very impressive. That’s the bit that we need to get after you, the speed of the way the game is.”

As it turned out, Leinster’s promising start – a 19-phase build-up to a try by Tommy O’Brien – only served to poke the bear. They soon found themselves completely outplayed and outgunned in ruthless fashion. It was a clash of cultures, with Leinster relying too heavily on their ball-carrying forwards and attacking shapes, which expended too much energy in the searing heat and made them vulnerable to handling errors and turnovers.

In contrast Bordeaux were happy to watch and wait, allowing Leinster to run out of options before choosing their moment to attack the ball, and use their wonderful attacking runners to carve open the Irish side’s defensive line. Leinster too were not helped by a malfunctioning line-out, the platform for so many of their launch plays.

Harry Byrne had a difficult game at fly-half and had to be replaced just after half-time. Leinster’s period of dominance, when they won four finals between 2009 and 2018, came with Johnny Sexton as their playmaker during a period when his influence was equally as commanding with Ireland.

There were moments that did not go Leinster’s way. Bielle-Biarrey kicked the ball dead, but the TMO review revealed it had come off the fingertips of Hugo Keenan and from the five-metre scrum, the ball was swung wide, with Matthieu Jalibert finding Salesi Rayasi and Uberti going over for his side’s second try.

There was a circus-like build up to their fourth try too, with a loose ball hacked ahead by Damian Penaud, Jamison Gibson-Park failing to gather, before Penaud put Bielle-Biarrey into enough space to race over for his second try.

Perhaps the defining moment of the game came with the final play of the first half. After a succession of carries that made a dent into the Bordeaux defence, Yoram Moefana picked off a short pass by Byrne to run in from 70 metres. It was another seven points out of nothing. And it ended any hopes of a Leinster revival.

In their 2011 victory over Northampton in the final in Cardiff, Leinster managed to overcome a 22-6 deficit in the second half, but they never came close here in a raucous atmosphere that was overwhelmingly dominated by supporters for the French side.

When Lucu was sent to the sin-bin at the start of the second half for pulling the jersey of Joe McCarthy, there was a brief moment of faint hope. McCarthy powered over for a try moments later, but Leinster could not take further advantage. When Lucu returned he was able to land two penalties to apply further scoreboard pressure.

It left Leinster chasing nothing but pride, but Bordeaux could sit back knowing there was too much ground to claw back. Garry Ringrose crossed for a try and Ciaran Frawley brought more precision to their attacking game. But the final quarter was little more than a celebratory procession. Chapeaux, Bordeaux.

Match details

Scoring sequence: 5-0 O’Brien try, 7-0 Byrne con, 5-7 Lucu try, 7-7 Lucu con, 7-12 Uberti try, 7-14 Lucu con, 7-19 Bielle-Biarrey try, 7-21 Lucu con, 7-26 Bielle-Biarrey try, 7-28 Lucu con, 7-33 Moefana try, 7-35 Lucu con, 12-35 J McCarthy try, 12-38 Lucu pen, 12-41 Lucu pen, 17-41 Ringrose try, 19-41 Frawley con.

Leinster: H Keenan (R Henshaw 64); T O’Brien, G Ringrose, R Henshaw (J Osborne), R Ioane; H Byrne (C Frawley 44), J Gibson-Park (L McGrath 73); A Porter (P McCarthy 63), D Sheehan (R Kelleher 53), T Clarkson (T Furlong 44), J McCarthy (D Mangan 71), J Ryan, J Conan (M Deegan 59), J Van der Flier, C Doris (c).

Bordeaux-Begles: Salesi Rayasi; P Uberti (A Retiere 63), D Penaud, Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; M Jalibert (H Reus 70), M Lucu (c); J Poirot (U Boniface 48), M Lamothe (G Barlot 54), C Sadie (B Tameifuna 48), B Palu, A Coleman (L Swinton 41), P Bochaton (T Matiu 9), C Woki (T Matiu 50), M Gazzotti (B Vergnes-Taillefer 54).
Sin-bin: Lucu, Boniface.

Referee: K Dickson (RFU).