CARDIFF :When the Bordeaux-Begles players and staff trooped off the pitch having been crushed 59-3 by Toulouse in last year’s Top 14 final, they vowed to return better and stronger this year and on Saturday, match-hardened, they finally tasted glory.
Founded via a merger of clubs in 2006 and promoted to the Top 14 in 2011 they lifted their first major trophy in impressive style when they snuffed out the previously potent threat of Northampton to win the European Champions Cup with a 28-20 victory in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Revenge against Toulouse had come in the semi-finals but it was not so much the sparkling backline attacking play they showed there that made the difference on Saturday as their forward power and defensive intensity that blunted a Northampton backline full of England internationals.
Damian Penaud did score two tries to take his season’s tally in the competition to 14 – earning him the player of the year award – but Bordeaux’s relentless driving mauls and straight running sucked the energy out of a Northampton side who drained the tanks in trying to keep them at bay.
Conductor-in-chief was scrumhalf and captain Maxime Lucu, who also took over the goal-kicking duties after some wobbles by Matthieu Jalibert.
His penalty broke the 20-20 halftime deadlock and Bordeaux sealed the deal – the fifth title in a row for France – with Cyril Cazeaux’s try.
“It feels good to have this first trophy, it wasn’t easy,” said Lucu after being named man of the match. “We had some very tough moments, but we hung in there.
“Honestly, it feels great – for the club, for the team, for the supporters. After defeat last year (in the Top 14 final) to come back this year, eliminate almost every team that had won this competition, and earn our first star, it’s wonderful.”
Penaud also referenced the Top 14 final defeat as motivation. “After last year’s setback we said to ourselves that we never wanted to go through that again because we had taken a lesson,” he said. “Maybe we had that extra bit of spirit tonight.”
Coach Yannick Bru was singing from the same hymn sheet. “We’re really proud of them because last season ended in a nightmare,” he said.
“We felt the pressure of that first trophy coming on and we didn’t want it to slip through our fingers.”
Saturday’s victory meant that Bordeaux accounted for six former European champions in this season’s run, with Northampton, winners in 2000, the last to fall.
The English team showed remarkable spirit and fight but injuries, yellow cards and mistakes at key moments conspired against them as they struggled to build a consistent threat.
“Bordeaux are deserved champions but we went toe-to-toe and I can’t fault my side,” said Northampton’s director of rugby Phil Dowson, who played in the 2011 final defeat when Saints led Leinster 22-6 at halftime but lost 33-22.
“The injuries were frustrating but the guys who came on were outstanding. It is difficult to see now but we must not lose the journey we went on to get here and we will celebrate that.”
