Union Bordeaux Bègles 41, Leinster 19
Leinster got the perfect start to the European Rugby Champions Cup final in Bilbao — alas, Tommy O’Brien’s 8th minute try proved their high point.
Superb Union Bordeaux Bègles got the perfect reply after just four minutes with captain Maxime Lucu’s try, and their follow-up scores, from Pablo Uberti on 17 and Louis in the 24th minute, had Leinster squarely on the back foot. A second from Bielle-Biarrey, on 36, before Yorum Moefana capitalized on a Leinster passing error in attack on the stroke of half-time and the Irish province were on the ropes.
At the break it was five converted tries for the defending champions to just one for the Irish — 35 to 7. It looked there would no way back in the second-half heat in the Basque city. And there wasn’t.
Joe McCarthy gave Leinster a sliver of hope with an opportunist’s try on 45 minutes. Little happened during the 15 minutes after that, and the French nullified McCarthy’s unconverted try with two penalties from Lucu, in the 60th and 64th minute. And so, it was 41-12 with a quarter hour left on the clock. Finally, in the 72nd minute a brilliant hand-off from Robbie Henshaw to Garry Ringrose got the third Leinster try. After the conversion, that was it.
This is the sixth consecutive win for French clubs in the final, and Leinster have provided the opposition on four occasions now. The Irish province have been in a record nine finals, winning in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2018; losing in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Instead of a fifth title to ease the pain of recent losses, they suffered in 2026 a fifth defeat, with a result that compares unfavorably to the 24-21, 27-26 and 31-22 close calls of the previous three.
Union Bordeaux Bègles' Matthieu Jalibert and Damian Penaud celebrate with the Champions Cup Trophy in San Mames Stadium. [Inpho/James Crombie]
"This team is a big family. We are back-to-back champions and one of the best," said player of the tournament Bielle-Biarrey on Premier Sports. "We work a lot and it is really nice. We are always smiling, that is our mindset."
Leinster coach Leo Cullen said after the game, "They have done their back-to-back and they will be going for three in a row to replicate what Toulon have done in the past.
“Everyone will be chasing them as they are clearly the best team in the competition- right now."
Cullen told the BBC that Leinster’s opponents were better at "split-second stuff" and their clinical edge made the difference.
"We knew it was going to be a tough challenge and we knew we were underdogs. They were favorites for a reason and they were that bit better than us today."
"I think a bit of a theme of the season has been finding a way," captain Caelan Doris told BBC Radio 5 Live."We've been behind several times and there's been composure and finding a way, but despite a good effort in the second half it was too high a mountain to climb."
No luck either for Ulster in Bilbao as they went down to a 59-26 defeat to Montpellier in the European Challenge Cup on Friday night.
