Winning as underdogs requires ample precision and a whole lot of luck. Leinster brought none of the former and were abandoned by the latter in a first half defined by errors, both unforced and otherwise. Those errors cost Leinster the game.
In a way, the tone was set inside the opening minute, Hugo Keenan inexplicably spilling the first clearing kick of the day from Maxime Lucu. Cue bedlam in a San Mames stadium dominated by a fervent Union Bordeaux Bègles faithful.
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A crowd doesn’t create momentum on its own, but it sure can help. Every Leinster error was greeted by a cacophony to rival any atmosphere this competition has seen.
Leinster suffer Champions Cup humbling at the hands of Bordeaux
Keenan’s mistake wasn’t terminal, but James Ryan’s spill 10 minutes later came close. After a long, painstaking set of phases where Leinster’s accuracy held just long enough for Tommy O’Brien to open the scoring, the resulting kick-off went through Ryan’s hands.
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The ball did rebound off a pink and blue jersey into touch but Bordeaux pinched the lineout. Leinster would not get the ball back outside of their own half for another 15 minutes. They were down two scores by the time they did.
Plenty of column inches will be devoted to how Bordeaux unlocked Leinster’s defence, picking off the infamous blitz. While valid to a point, how the French victors got in position to do so was a bigger factor in the onslaught.
Keenan’s second defining touch was a brutal moment, fortune deserting the Ireland fullback. Spotting the red scrum cap of Louis Bielle-Biarrey, he was clearly desperate to stop a chip over the top, with good reason. When kicks find grass, more often than not Bielle-Biarrey scores.
Mercifully for Leinster, the chip rolled dead. Or so we thought. The officials spotted a fingertip from Keenan on the way through, gifting Bordeaux a five-meter scrum from which they subsequently scored. Prop Carlu Sadie shrewdly stopped the game by taking a knee, allowing time for replays to hit the big screen. His issue mysteriously disappeared as soon as referee Karl Dickson changed his decision.
This came just moments after Harry Byrne launched a restart dead following Bordeaux’s first try. Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered, given the quality of Lucu’s exit kicks, but it was a chance wasted to keep Bordeaux out of the Leinster half. It would not be Byrne’s last error.
Add to the unfortunate ledger Bielle-Biarrey’s second score, Bordeaux’s fourth. Matthieu Jalibert’s charged-down kick was a shocker, but it still brought a score. As is their wont, Bordeaux reacted quicker to the bouncing ball, a slap-back to Damian Penaud leading to a chip, chase and offload. Keenan didn’t have a hope one-on-one in the backfield with Bielle-Biarrey.
Bordeaux’s rampant scorer saw his first also come from somewhat fortunate circumstances. Josh van der Flier won a legitimate poach but couldn’t hang on, his spill gifting Bordeaux another scrum platform. Given the maelstrom of bodies that looked to have dislodged the ball, van der Flier may have thought himself unlucky not to be rewarded with a penalty for the jackal.
Back luck is one thing. Self-inflicted wounds are another entirely. On a rare positive foray forward, Keenan and Jack Conan seemed to get confused on who was taking Gibson-Park’s pass. Conan spilled and Bordeaux celebrated a stop in the 22 like a score of their own.
The telling blow came right on half-time. Echoes of the 2019 final defeat to Saracens were impossible to ignore, the English side scoring with the clock in the red after Leinster decided to keep the ball on the park instead of heading for the St James’ Park sheds.
Seven years later in Bilbao, Leinster were given a free kick inside their own 22 beyond 40 minutes. Had they tapped and booted the ball dead, it would have been a psychological blow; down 21, in need of points, but still desperate to get off. Taking the positive option, Leinster played on. It was admirable at the time, but naive in hindsight.
To be fair, Leinster built an excellent set of phases. Short tips and physical carries brought play up towards the Bordeaux 22. The worst case scenario still came to pass, Byrne compounding a difficult half by gifting Yorem Moefana an intercept try.
Game over.
Leinster did a better job of imposing their promising attack after half-time, but critical errors never abandoned them. A spill at a ruck killed one 22 entry, jackal turnovers a handful of others. Another intercept to boot.
Overturning the half-time deficit required a turnaround more miraculous than Cardiff in 2011. Against this Bordeaux side, good luck with that.
