BETTERED, BATTERED AND bloodied, Leinster’s wait for a fifth European title will go on for another year after a chastening final defeat to Bordeaux.
The damage was done in the first half, a period during which the reigning champions ran in five tries. Leinster, despite taking an early lead, never kicked on thereafter and were simply outclassed over 80 minutes.
By full-time, Bordeaux’s celebrations were fairly tame: they had known for roughly an hour that they would become back-to-back European kings having raced into a 35-7 lead.
Leinster, too, had probably already begun to make peace with another day of disappointment on club rugby’s biggest stage, their sullen players seeking to comfort each other through hugs and handshakes.
Bordeaux celebrate their third try. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Things appeared so much brighter for Leo Cullen’s side when Tommy O’Brien opened the scoring after a tremendous, 19-phase attack which was born of a maul turnover in Leinster’s half.
The eastern province’s forwards rapped furiously on Bordeaux’s door before the backs found the side-gate, Garry Ringrose’s skip pass putting O’Brien over in the right-hand corner.
The score, converted beautifully by Harry Byrne from the touchline, was irrepressible. And yet Bordeaux looked similarly unstoppable only moments later when Maxime Lucu dove under the posts to put the finishing touch on a sustained spell of French pressure, converting the score himself.
The champions took the lead just after the quarter-hour mark, albeit from a fortuitous five-metre scrum; Louis Bielle-Biarray’s speculative chip down the left edge clipped Hugo Keenan’s hand before running dead, gifting UBB an ideal opportunity.
They took it with aplomb, Pablo Uberti scoring centre-right after a well-crafted set-piece attack created huge holes in Leinster’s defence. Lucu again converted for 14-7.
Bordeaux had caught fire, their speed of thought and sleight of hand proving too sophisticated for Leinster’s defence. Their third score came from Bielle-Biarrey, who, in acres of space on the left edge, collected a bouncing pass and cut back infield, slaloming his way through three defenders to score a try that only he could.
Lucu was again spot-on from the tee, and the holders led 21-7.
Leinster sought an immediate reply and were gifted a second bite at the cherry when a botched five-metre lineout — one of three lost in the first half — was batted dead by a Bordeaux hand, resulting in a five-metre scrum for the Irish province. However, their ensuing attack ended with an uncharacteristic knock-on by Jack Conan, Bordeaux’s stars revving up their already raucous fans as they celebrated wildly an admirable piece of defence.
Damian Penaud celebrates a Bordeaux turnover. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Matthieu Jalibert celebrates the same turnover. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Their tails up, Bordeaux proceeded to take the roof off the San Mamés with a fourth try before half-time. There were more than a couple of very French-looking bounces of the ball involved, but Bielle-Biarrey applied the finishing touch to double his personal tally.
Mathieu Jalibert’s attempted chip was blocked down but, after a ricochet or two, the ball was fly-hacked behind Leinster’s defence by Damian Penaud. It somehow evaded Jamison Gibson-Park and popped into Penaud’s bread basket once more, with the Bordeaux 13 offloading to Bielle-Biarrey who took it home from around the Leinster 10-metre line. Lucu dinked over the extra two for 28-7.
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Damian Penaud tees up Louis Bielle-Biarrey for his second try. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Leinster desperately sought a score before the break but this very desperation yielded only further desolation. On the stroke of half-time, Harry Byrne’s pass was telegraphed and taken home by Yoram Moefana, Lucu chipping over the afters with the final act of the first half. 35-7.
Leinster looked utterly shellshocked as they departed the field, their European dream turning into a new kind of nightmare over which they would need to ruminate for 12 months at least. Jacques Nienaber’s defence which was supposed to deliver Europe had been torn asunder, and there was somehow another 40 minutes to come.
They caught a break early after the restart, the imperious Lucu sin-binned for tugging the back of Joe McCarthy’s mullet in an attempted tackle.
It was McCarthy himself who produced the athletic finish for Leinster’s second score on 45 minutes. However, Ciarán Frawley — on for Harry Byrne moments earlier — hit the post with his conversion, and so Leinster still trailed by four scores at 35-12.
Leinster’s momentum against 14 men appeared thwarted by a Josh van der Flier knock-on in the French 22′ after a Frawley-orchestrated all-court attack had moved them some 60 metres upfield. Their next attack was again well constructed but Tommy O’Brien’s floated pass out left was intercepted by Salesi Rayasi, who lifted the siege.
Soon afterwards, the huge Bordeaux crowd was back on its feet as Lucu returned from the sin bin. Leinster had just five points to show for his period of absence.
There were flashes of excitement, certainly, from Frawley at out-half, where he’ll line out for Connacht next season, but there was to be no great Leinster comeback like 2011.
Lucu extended his side’s lead to 41-12 with strikes from the tee to either side of the hour mark, the champions now in cruise control as the game eased into the final quarter without great incident. La Marseillaise began to ring around the stadium on around 65 minutes as Leinster made an increasingly rare venture into Bordeaux territory.
Garry Ringrose eventually crossed from close range for a consolation score, drop-kick converted by Frawley for 41-19, and Bordeaux were reduced to 14 for the closing stages following a dangerous clear-out by replacement Ugo Boniface.
Leinster, though, missed a slew of chances to narrow the scoreline at the end. That the game finished upon a lost Leinster lineout felt fitting from their perpsective, and thousands of Bordeaux supporters in the San Mamés continued the celebrations that had really begun about an hour earlier.
Scorers for Bordeaux:
Tries: Maxime Lucu, Pablo Uberti, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Yoram Moefana
Cons: Maxime Lucu (5/5)
Pens: Maxime Lucu (2/2)
Scorers for Leinster:
Tries: Tommy O’Brien, Joe McCarthy, Garry Ringrose
Cons: Harry Byrne (1/1), Ciarán Frawley (1/2)
LEINSTER: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Tommy O’Brien, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. Rieko Ioane, 10. Harry Byrne, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tom Clarkson, 4. Joe McCarthy, 5. James Ryan, 6. Jack Conan, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris (c)
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Leinster's wait goes on as brilliant Bordeaux retain their European throne
Leinster 19
Bordeaux 41
BETTERED, BATTERED AND bloodied, Leinster’s wait for a fifth European title will go on for another year after a chastening final defeat to Bordeaux.
The damage was done in the first half, a period during which the reigning champions ran in five tries. Leinster, despite taking an early lead, never kicked on thereafter and were simply outclassed over 80 minutes.
By full-time, Bordeaux’s celebrations were fairly tame: they had known for roughly an hour that they would become back-to-back European kings having raced into a 35-7 lead.
Leinster, too, had probably already begun to make peace with another day of disappointment on club rugby’s biggest stage, their sullen players seeking to comfort each other through hugs and handshakes.
Things appeared so much brighter for Leo Cullen’s side when Tommy O’Brien opened the scoring after a tremendous, 19-phase attack which was born of a maul turnover in Leinster’s half.
The eastern province’s forwards rapped furiously on Bordeaux’s door before the backs found the side-gate, Garry Ringrose’s skip pass putting O’Brien over in the right-hand corner.
The score, converted beautifully by Harry Byrne from the touchline, was irrepressible. And yet Bordeaux looked similarly unstoppable only moments later when Maxime Lucu dove under the posts to put the finishing touch on a sustained spell of French pressure, converting the score himself.
The champions took the lead just after the quarter-hour mark, albeit from a fortuitous five-metre scrum; Louis Bielle-Biarray’s speculative chip down the left edge clipped Hugo Keenan’s hand before running dead, gifting UBB an ideal opportunity.
They took it with aplomb, Pablo Uberti scoring centre-right after a well-crafted set-piece attack created huge holes in Leinster’s defence. Lucu again converted for 14-7.
Bordeaux had caught fire, their speed of thought and sleight of hand proving too sophisticated for Leinster’s defence. Their third score came from Bielle-Biarrey, who, in acres of space on the left edge, collected a bouncing pass and cut back infield, slaloming his way through three defenders to score a try that only he could.
Lucu was again spot-on from the tee, and the holders led 21-7.
Leinster sought an immediate reply and were gifted a second bite at the cherry when a botched five-metre lineout — one of three lost in the first half — was batted dead by a Bordeaux hand, resulting in a five-metre scrum for the Irish province. However, their ensuing attack ended with an uncharacteristic knock-on by Jack Conan, Bordeaux’s stars revving up their already raucous fans as they celebrated wildly an admirable piece of defence.
Their tails up, Bordeaux proceeded to take the roof off the San Mamés with a fourth try before half-time. There were more than a couple of very French-looking bounces of the ball involved, but Bielle-Biarrey applied the finishing touch to double his personal tally.
Mathieu Jalibert’s attempted chip was blocked down but, after a ricochet or two, the ball was fly-hacked behind Leinster’s defence by Damian Penaud. It somehow evaded Jamison Gibson-Park and popped into Penaud’s bread basket once more, with the Bordeaux 13 offloading to Bielle-Biarrey who took it home from around the Leinster 10-metre line. Lucu dinked over the extra two for 28-7.
Leinster desperately sought a score before the break but this very desperation yielded only further desolation. On the stroke of half-time, Harry Byrne’s pass was telegraphed and taken home by Yoram Moefana, Lucu chipping over the afters with the final act of the first half. 35-7.
Leinster looked utterly shellshocked as they departed the field, their European dream turning into a new kind of nightmare over which they would need to ruminate for 12 months at least. Jacques Nienaber’s defence which was supposed to deliver Europe had been torn asunder, and there was somehow another 40 minutes to come.
They caught a break early after the restart, the imperious Lucu sin-binned for tugging the back of Joe McCarthy’s mullet in an attempted tackle.
It was McCarthy himself who produced the athletic finish for Leinster’s second score on 45 minutes. However, Ciarán Frawley — on for Harry Byrne moments earlier — hit the post with his conversion, and so Leinster still trailed by four scores at 35-12.
Leinster’s momentum against 14 men appeared thwarted by a Josh van der Flier knock-on in the French 22′ after a Frawley-orchestrated all-court attack had moved them some 60 metres upfield. Their next attack was again well constructed but Tommy O’Brien’s floated pass out left was intercepted by Salesi Rayasi, who lifted the siege.
Soon afterwards, the huge Bordeaux crowd was back on its feet as Lucu returned from the sin bin. Leinster had just five points to show for his period of absence.
There were flashes of excitement, certainly, from Frawley at out-half, where he’ll line out for Connacht next season, but there was to be no great Leinster comeback like 2011.
Lucu extended his side’s lead to 41-12 with strikes from the tee to either side of the hour mark, the champions now in cruise control as the game eased into the final quarter without great incident. La Marseillaise began to ring around the stadium on around 65 minutes as Leinster made an increasingly rare venture into Bordeaux territory.
Garry Ringrose eventually crossed from close range for a consolation score, drop-kick converted by Frawley for 41-19, and Bordeaux were reduced to 14 for the closing stages following a dangerous clear-out by replacement Ugo Boniface.
Leinster, though, missed a slew of chances to narrow the scoreline at the end. That the game finished upon a lost Leinster lineout felt fitting from their perpsective, and thousands of Bordeaux supporters in the San Mamés continued the celebrations that had really begun about an hour earlier.
Scorers for Bordeaux:
Tries: Maxime Lucu, Pablo Uberti, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Yoram Moefana
Cons: Maxime Lucu (5/5)
Pens: Maxime Lucu (2/2)
Scorers for Leinster:
Tries: Tommy O’Brien, Joe McCarthy, Garry Ringrose
Cons: Harry Byrne (1/1), Ciarán Frawley (1/2)
LEINSTER: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Tommy O’Brien, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. Rieko Ioane, 10. Harry Byrne, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tom Clarkson, 4. Joe McCarthy, 5. James Ryan, 6. Jack Conan, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris (c)
Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Paddy McCarthy, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Diarmuid Mangan, 20. Max Deegan, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Ciaran Frawley, 23. Jamie Osborne
Bordeaux: 15. Salesi Rayasi, 14. Pablo Uberti, 13. Damian Penaud, 12. Yoram Moefana, 11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10. Matthieu Jalibert, 9. Maxime Lucu (c), 1. Jefferson Poirot, 2. Maxime Lamothe, 3. Carlü Sadie, 4. Boris Palu, 5. Adam Coleman, 6. Pierre Bochaton, 7. Cameron Woki, 8. Marko Gazzotti
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
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