Bordeaux retain Champions Cup with 41-19 demolition of Leinster in Bilbao

Union Bordeaux Bègle are back-to-back European champions after dismantling Leinster 41-19 at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao on Saturday, with two former Australia internationals playing key roles in a performance that was effectively over by half-time.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey, widely regarded as the standout player in world rugby right now, scored two dazzling first-half tries as Bordeaux raced into a 35-7 lead before the break. Captain and scrumhalf Maxime Lucu, named player of the match in both the semi-final and the final, also crossed the line and finished with a personal haul of 21 points. Pablo Uberti and Yoram Moefana completed the five-try first-half blitz.

Lock Adam Coleman, 34, started and excelled in that opening period before being replaced at the interval by flanker Lachlan Swinton, 29. Coleman, who earned 38 caps for Australia between 2016 and 2019 before later representing Tonga on ancestry grounds, was a former Western Force and Melbourne Rebels second-rower. Swinton, a Sydney product, won the last of his seven Wallabies caps against Wales in 2021.

Leinster, seeking a fifth Champions Cup title, had no answer to Bordeaux’s intensity. Tommy O’Brien, Joe McCarthy and Garry Ringrose scored consolation tries, but the Irish province were never in contention after that crushing first half. It extended a painful run for Leinster, who have now lost four European finals against French opposition since lifting their fourth title in 2018.

Lucu added two second-half penalties to complete a comprehensive personal and collective display. Bordeaux, who beat Northampton in last year’s final, have now firmly established themselves as the dominant force in European club rugby.

Bordeaux assistant coach Noel McNamara drew on a sporting parallel to frame the achievement. “We spoke about Rory McIlroy in the lead-up to the quarter-final against Toulouse,” he told the BBC. “Good players win one green jacket — great players win two. We have fantastic players. They made the decision that one Champions Cup is not enough.”