What to make of Bordeaux Bègles and Toulouse colliding in Sunday’s Champions Cup quarter-final? The reigning champions against the six-time winners in a repeat of both last year’s semi-final and the last two French Top 14 finals is arguably the mother-of-all quarter-finals.
Whether it’s a pity or a bonus depends on one’s viewpoint. Last Sunday at the Aviva Stadium, after the dust had settled on Leinster’s win over Edinburgh brining the Round of 16 to a close, the Premier Sports pitchside panel sought to turn their attention to this weekend’s quarter-finals.
It was just presenter Ross Harries and his three pundits, Rob Kearney, John Barclay and Andy Goode, and a flock of noisy seagulls. The pundits had a good-natured disagreement about how to interpret the two French sides running into each other at this juncture.
“In some respects,” said Kearney, “it’s an awful pity that they’re meeting now so early on in the competition, because they do look like the two outstanding teams. But it is hard to look past Bordeaux, particularly at home.”
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“Pity for them,” said Harries, “but great for the rest because one of the heavyweights is going to be eliminated.”
“Yeah,” agreed Goode. “When he (Kearney) said that I was like ‘no one else is bothered that they’re playing each other’, except for the neutral maybe.”
“Which is everyone else,” Kearney added. “Well, it’s not quite everyone else,” came Goode’s reply.
One thing they could readily agree on is the seismic nature of this collision.
“The quality of rugby that those two are playing is on a different planet from everyone else,” said Kearney. Goode concurred.
“Ultimately they are head and shoulders above everyone else at the minute but it’s like when Leinster get to finals, it’s about who lifts the trophy and it doesn’t happen very often for Leinster, does it?”
At which point Ross reminded the panel that Kearney had four winners’ medals, which Goode admitted was two more than him, which in turn was two more than Barclay.
But in a sense, both Kearney and Goode were correct. For the two clubs concerned this perhaps would have made the best final, so perhaps it is a pity that it’s come too soon.
But for all the other runners in the field this is a mouth-watering quarter-final. It’s an insight into the elite level of the best club competition in the world, brining together it’s leading try-scoring sides – Bordeaux-Begles (36) and Toulouse (33) – taking one of them out of the running at the last-eight juncture.
Toulouse, the ultimate in French and European rugby royalty, have won this competition a record six times and the Top 14 an unrivalled 24 times.
For their part, Bordeaux Bègles are a little like the new La Rochelle. Exceptionally well run and the best supported club in France, they’re venturing into new territory. No club has pushed Toulouse harder domestically or in Europe in the last three seasons.
Founded in 2006 as a result of a merger between two Bordeaux clubs, all changed when the former Toulouse hooker Yannick Bru took the reigns as head coach in 2023 after a sabbatical with the Sharks, with one of Clare’s finest, Noel McNamara, coming in as backs coach.
Two seasons ago, Bordeaux made their first Top 14 final, reaching the decider via le barrage, meaning just a six-day turnaround to the final in Marseilles. Plagued by injuries, they feel to a rampant Toulouse 59-3.
Last season they gained some revenge by outperforming Toulouse in the Champions Cup to earn a higher seeding and home advantage in the semi-final, winning 35-18 before seeing off Northampton in the final.
Bordeaux also finished second in the Top 14, ensuring a more equitable route to their second domestic final at the Stade de France.
Despite their scrum being pummelled, a penalty by Maxime Lucu with the last kick of the 80 minutes made it 33-all. taking the game to extra-time in which one of the modern game’s great clutch kickers, Thomas Ramos, landed two decisive penalties, as he does.
Cue their 10th meeting in three seasons this Sunday, and you wouldn’t rule out an 11th in another Top 14 final. This has become the new Classico of French rugby, and the winners will probably be evens or odds-on to lift the trophy.
