Brilliant Bordeaux demolish Leinster to retain crown

WINGER Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored two magnificent tries and captain Maxime Lucu bagged a clinical 21 points as Bordeaux-Begles brilliantly defended their Champions Cup crown with a 41-19 hammering of Leinster in Bilbao yesterday.

- 

Bielle-Biarrey and Lucu — who also contributed one of his side's five touchdowns — spearheaded a powerful offensive display to cement French clubs’ recent stranglehold over the competition, with Top 14 sides successfully winning the tournament every single year since 2021.

"We had a very difficult run with all the big teams we had to play, and we're delighted to come away with a trophy," Lucu told France Televisions, having masterfully navigated past six-time champions Toulouse, Bath, and Leicester Tigers in the knockout stages. "We felt we were in a good place today, that the heat wasn't completely crazy either — we told ourselves we'd approach it differently, we did, and it worked out really well."

The temperature in the Basque country reached a sweltering 30°C at kick-off. Despite opening the scoring after just nine minutes, Leinster failed to add to their four historic Champions Cup successes and lost a record-extending fifth straight final — having last lifted the coveted trophy in this exact Basque city back in 2018.