It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend.
THEY’RE ON FIRE!
Union Bordeaux-Bègles: Saturday’s destruction of Leinster meant that the French club became the sixth all-time back-to-back Champions Cup champions. It’s no mean feat UBB rubbing shoulders in an exclusive jet-set consisting of La Rochelle (2022-2023), Saracens (2016-2017), Toulon (2013-2015), Leinster (2011-2012) and Leicester (2001-2002), and all the more remarkable is how they have risen from the ashes of the financially stricken CA Bordeaux Begles Gironde outfit relegated to the French third tier on 2003 and then declared bankrupt the following year.
The achievement is made all the sweeter as they are not some niche sports entity embraced by a select few. UBB have instead become their city’s main sports attraction, playing in front of near-capacity crowds every time and becoming the best-supported rugby club in Europe. It’s a transformation that warms the heart – just look at the connection between team and fans on Saturday in Bilbao – and their fast-paced attacking style on the pitch, which secured a comfortable 41-19 win over Leinster, is an approach that is now the envy of all.
Maxime Lucu: UBB’s scrum-half wasn’t named European player of the year following Saturday’s final; that was an award given to Louis Bielle-Biarrey. However, that decision in no way takes away from the influence of the half-back in orchestrating his team’s back-to-back triumphs. He is a class act. Skills such as the extraordinary length of his clearance kicks off either foot simply drain the will to live from an opposition.
Lucu is an all-rounder who has taken scrum-half play to the next level. We have salivated over the likes of Antoine Dupont and Jamison Gibson-Park in recent years, but the 33-year-old is wielding a threat that is proving devastating. It was daft that he was carded for a supposed hair pull when trying to grab the top of Joe McCarthy’s jersey from behind early in the second half on Saturday. If that’s foul play worthy of the same yellow card sanction given to Ugo Boniface for this thuggish, cheap breakdown shot on James Ryan, then rugby officiating seriously has a credibility problem.
Leinster v Bordeaux-Bègles: Five takeaways as ‘untouchable’ champions play ‘rugby from the gods’ on Irish side’s ‘worst day in modern history’
Louis Bielle-Biarrey: The 22-year-old is definitely rugby’s baby-faced assassin, with his deft handling making the tricky look so, so simple. Then there is his fleet-footedness. Leinster’s beefy prop Thomas Clarkson, for one, will be having nightmares about the weekend, getting left for dead by the winger’s try-creating coming-back-on-the-inside sidestep.
That was a moment of beauty, LBB striking a telling blow for the small-sized people against the heavies who think they should always rule the roost on the pitch. Bielle-Biarrey’s player of the year award was the fourth time in succession the prize has been scooped by a Frenchman, and the only surprise was that his brace of tries in the one-sided final didn’t nab him a scoring record. His 2025/26 tally was ‘only’ 10 tries, a total that was one shy of Chris Ashton’s 11 for Saracens in 2013/14.
Yoram Moefana: The Bordeaux pack was, of course, immense in laying waste to what the Leinster forwards had to offer in Bilbao, but the stone wall which the Irish most repeatedly crashed into was the French centre who put on a tackle clinic at the San Mamés. There were plenty of fellow Bordeaux teammates with healthy tackle counts, but there was something about the juddering impact Moefana made that was worth that bit more.
Leinster needed to deliver an attack with a vision if they were to make a match of the final, but their backline was thwarted by a security detail headed up by Moefana. His hits were crunchy when it mattered in the opening half, and the calibre of his defensive read was then embellished by picking off Harry Byrne’s pass and running more than half the length of the pitch to score with the intercept.
Comment: Leinster’s ‘drive for five’ goes wrong as Bordeaux-Bègles prove they are no ‘fleeting star’
Ciaran Frawley: Leinster were an embarrassing mess; no reasonable rugby fan can argue otherwise. Amid the wreckage was an example of how their coaching has its blind spots as regards player development. The sceptics will jibe that it was immaterial that Frawley played well off the bench to help his team ‘win’ the second half of the final 12-7 – and they are right as the second half was essentially consolation rugby.
However, Frawley’s ability to leave a mark on proceedings had you wondering the ‘what if’ question: why didn’t Leinster properly invest their confidence in the 28-year-old in the two years since he came within a whisker of scoring the drop goal to win Leinster the 2024 final against Toulouse? They have only suddenly woken up again in recent weeks, following the collapse in Sam Prendergast’s confidence, to the idea that he is a capable 10. But this epiphany came months too late as it was last December when Frawley agreed to a two-year deal at Connacht. His exit is a poor reflection on Leo Cullen and co.
Montpellier: The EPCR Challenge Cup understandably doesn’t carry the same cachet as its more illustrious Champions Cup counterpart, but the smashing performance produced by the French club in last Friday’s 59-26 final win was something to really savour and it will add fuel to the Top 14 title race. It was 2021 when Montpellier previously won the EPCR CC and that triumph became the catalyst for their Top 14 triumph the following year.
This time around, though, they might not have to wait a season to make good the value of winning in Europe. They are currently second on the French table with two rounds of matches left before the play-offs and based on the opposition-hammering havoc they produced in Bilbao, there is no reason why they can’t be running out at the Stade de France on June 27 in the Top 14 final. It was also super to see Billy Vunipola on top form at the weekend.
Bordeaux-Bègles player ratings: ‘Outrageous’ Maxime Lucu ‘the beating heart’ of Investec Champions Cup final win as Louis Bielle-Biarrey proves himself the ‘apex predator’ again
Blackheath: Away from the compelling goings-on in Bilbao, an old throwback unfolded in England on Saturday when the world’s oldest open club in continuous existence secured promotion back to the Champ for the first time since 1999. London outfit Blackheath have been on the go since 1858 but the mid-90s arrival of professionalism left them exposed, condemned to a backwaters existence that even included dipping into National 2 East, English rugby’s fourth tier.
There has been a sharp revival in recent times, though, and their weekend 27-7 victory at London Scottish has them back in a division they last featured in 27 years ago. What will be interesting to see next, once their unbridled celebrations are over, is the level of ambition they have for the second tier.
Crusaders: Teams moving into new stadiums can result in a tricky settling-in period, but the New Zealand franchise has quickly warmed to their delightful new abode and Friday’s compelling comeback success against the Chiefs made it three wins from three and a third consecutive sell-out crowd. Trailing 32-24, Rob Penney’s team looked set to suffer a loss that would have serious repercussions for their Super Rugby Pacific play-off seeding.
However, they produced a tremendous late surge to leave the fans in ecstasy, talisman midfielder David Havili going in under the posts to clinch the 36-32 victory that has them in fourth place with the Highlanders to come at home next Friday in their final regular season game at their new fortress in Christchurch. Lovely.
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COLD AS ICE!
Leinster: This column has fought the Irish club’s corner over the course of the season, doling out the praise for them finding fresh ways to win even though it was clear to everyone that they are simply not the Leinster they once were with that rapier attack which used to put heavy scores on so many rivals. However, their ‘winning ugly’ concept fizzled out into a brutally sobering defeat on Saturday and the reaction of coach Cullen afterwards grated.
For a club where winning should be all that matters, he failed to strike a serious, sombre chord following the humiliating loss and instead showed himself up as a figure of fun, someone who is coasting in his position and feels he is unaccountable to the rank and file. Yes, Cullen is a Leinster legend who has seen and done it all both as a player and as their boss, but from a coaching perspective, everyone has a shelf life. The Irish outfit, having now lost five Champions Cup finals under Cullen, seriously look like they could do with new energy at the top to finally get the job done.
Jacques Nienaber: Blame for the lack of razzamatazz surrounding Leinster throughout their 2025/26 campaign was quickly apportioned in the direction of the South African at half-time in Bilbao – never mind the sounding of Karl Dickson’s final whistle about an hour later. The Irish province sacrificed the easy-on-the-eye attacking brand designed under Lancaster for the more defensive-minded approach instilled by Nienaber, and it has hurt. To be 35-7 down at the break in a match where it was felt you had a fighting chance of winning was a terrible look and, as stated above regarding the future of Cullen, it emphasised the need for a reboot at Leinster.
Defence is supposed to now be their major super strength, but their game plan lacked the breakdown robustness to make this count. This isn’t to say Nienaber is a flawed coach. Far from it – he is a super practitioner, as shown through his brilliant success with South Africa. It just seems more and more like his role with Leinster isn’t the best fit. He either needs to be promoted to the top job and allowed to call the shots, or else be moved on.
Leo Cullen claims Leinster ‘not a million miles away’ after Champions Cup final humiliation
Ulster: A season of so much encouragement for Richie Murphy ended with nothing, and it highlighted how he still doesn’t have the squad needed to really make a telling difference. The coach played roulette with some of his United Rugby Championship selections, a tactic that backfired with their ninth-place finish. Chucking everything into the Challenge Cup basket was too risky a strategy and they were blown away in the final by Montpellier, a defeat that leaves the Irish club without Champions Cup rugby next season.
That’s a miss that will severely dent the bottom line balance sheet and slam the brakes on whatever blueprint existed to take things onto the next level in Belfast. It was way back in 2010 when the then-CEO Shane Logan was openly abrupt about the aspiration on his watch to transform Ulster into the best club in the world. It never happened and while he was chucked out in 2018, eight years later Ulster are still struggling to develop a squad with depth, not just a front-line XV that can have some good days here and there.
Ealing: We sang the praises the other week of the Trailfinders for their unbeaten regular season in the English Champ. 26 wins in 26 matches was an achievement so excellent that it left them finishing on top of the table, 30 points clear of second-place Bedford. However, the flaw around the rugby world, where leagues over the course of the season must then become knockout cup games to decide the title winner, was illustrated on Saturday.
Ealing welcomed Worcester, a team 40 points worse off than them on the table, to Vallis Way for a semi-final that had a last-gasp sting in the tail immediately after home scrum-half Dan Jones thought he had won the match. The Warriors claimed the restart and the last-gasp play ended with Jake Garside unbelievably grabbing the 34-29 win with a converted try. Ealing boss Ben Ward was magnanimous in the aftermath, but the result highlighted rugby’s refusal to crown league champions after the league and leave it at that. The best team wins the league, and anyone can get lucky in a cup match.
Ex-All Black claims PREM and URC are ‘stronger’ than Super Rugby
Brive: While the English Champ generated headlines with its fourth-best team humbling its table toppers in the play-offs, there was no upset outcome in the opening round of the French Pro D2 play-offs. Sixth-place Brive were picked off 39-21 at third-place Provence, while fourth-place Oyonnax were 39-14 winners over fifth-place Valence Romans. That was the sensible outcome from these matches.
A year ago, sixth-place Montauban caused a shock that continued all the way through to them winning the title and securing promotion to the Top 14. That was a terrible development as they simply weren’t to be in any way competitive for the top-flight; with just one win in 24 matches, their demotion has long been confirmed. Back to Brive, though. Their signing of Courtney Lawes on an eye-watering deal in the summer of 2024 was designed to get them back in the big time. Instead, they are nowhere nearer to achieving that and Lawes is now heading back to the English PREM a much richer man despite this lack of promotion.
Waratahs: Dan McKellar’s single season at Leicester certainly isn’t fondly remembered and the Australian’s next step at the Waratahs hasn’t turned out well either. His arrival at the Sydney franchise was supposed to be the catalyst for a great rebuild that would have the club challenging for a Super Rugby title it hasn’t won since its sole success in 2014 under Michael Cheika.
Last year’s eighth-place finish, which was seven points short of the play-offs, was excused as it was a first season, and it was about getting a handle on the project before propelling things upwards and onwards. However, last Friday’s 21-14 home loss to the Brumbies had ended their year-two play-off hopes, leaving their coach on shaky ground.
READ MORE: Democracy v Aristocracy: The facet that defined the Investec Champions Cup Final and why the ‘same problem’ will appear for Ireland
