Hits & misses - Rampant Bordeaux and Nienaber blame game

OPINION: Oh, what a weekend it was. Going into the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Finals, there was much more than just silverware up for grabs.

There were trophy droughts to be broken as Ulster hunted their first piece of silverware in two decades.

There was history to be made as Leinster eyed having their name on both the Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship plaques, which would have seen them become the first team in history to claim both in a single season had they been successful in both competitions.

*Also read: Challenge Cup Final: South African influence that was and presence that could’ve been

And there was Bordeaux Bègles looking to go back-to-back in the Champions Cup for the first time in their history.

From Montpellier maintaining their unbeaten run and lifting the Challenge Cup trophy for the third time after demolishing Ulster 59-26, to Bordeaux Bègles succeeding in their goal after sweeping Leinster aside with 41 points to 19, there was action all round in Bilbao.

We look at the highs and the lows from the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Finals.

Hits:

Taofifenua’s top try

You’d be forgiven for thinking the Cirque du Soleil made a special stop in Bilbao from Valencia, considering how Montpellier’s fourth try was scored.

Donovan Taofifenua’s second try early in the second half was one of the many moments of the match, and that’s saying something given the quality and vast options of memorable tries there were to choose from as the French club put on a show.

After blitzing his way down touch, Taofifenua clocked Ulster’s cover defence, shooting towards him and hurled himself over the chalk before cleverly grounding the ball.

To show that kind of reaction, athleticism, and skill is one thing, but to do it when intense humidity makes it tough to even control the ball, never mind with one hand, is just something else.

Acrobatics aside, the try took the game out of Ulster’s reach early in the second half (33-12), while the team from Belfast would have needed two converted tries to catch up to Montpellier before that, Taofifenua’s showstopper diminished that hope as it shifted the French into a higher gear and opened the floodgates for Montpellier to run away with it.

What an act.

Brutal efficiency of Montpellier’s pack

It was Montpellier’s dominance in multiple areas and the sheer brutality of their pack that announced them as champions-apparent before the teams even switched sides.

The Top 14 powerhouse led 26-12 at the break, and while it was a complete team effort to dismantle Ulster and claim the Challenge Cup crown, Billy Vunipola was at the forefront of their rampaging pack, making 10 carries for 17 metres as Montpellier’s forwards wore their Irish opposition down in sweltering conditions.

Apart from the former England international’s typical, grittier contributions, which he perfectly balances with a delicate skillset, he also added a try assist for Lenni Nouchi’s try.

Montpellier’s devastating rolling maul resulted in a number of visits to the whitewash in their nine-try romp, with their seventh try particularly impressive as they used their line-out as a launchpad yet again.

Continues below…

Bordeaux going back-to-back by halftime

It’s often said that Bordeaux have a Rolls Royce backline, and they certainly do, but given the total annihilation their entire squad were responsible for in the Champions Cup Final, it’s almost insulting to those with single digits on their backs for us to lay the praise on the speedsters beyond nine.

Bordeaux led 35-7 at halftime, and no team, not even a quality side like Leinster, was ever going to come back from a deficit like that against a team like Bordeaux.

It’s no surprise that Louis Bielle-Biarrey put his hand up in celebratory fashion as he raced in for one of Bordeaux’s many tries – that celebration was apt for the whole team, even while the match was still on.

While the score margin was huge, it’s not hard to imagine it being much, much worse, considering the rampant form Bordeaux was in.

They were deserved winners, and it’s hard to imagine any other team surviving what the French dished up in Spain.

Misses:

Dropping Werner Kok

How do you drop an in-form player for the biggest match of the season after he was a key part of your road to the Final?

The South African wing didn’t make the cut for Ulster’s final assignment of the Champions Cup season, with injury returnee Robert Baloucoune getting the nod.

The fact that Kok’s contract was not renewed surely played a part in the decision not to play him against Bordeaux, but for him to be dropped from the match day 23 entirely baffles.

Irish finger-pointing

It hadn’t even been 24 hours since Leinster’s downfall before the finger-pointing from disgruntled Leinster fans started.

As was to be expected, South African export Jacques Nienaber is the one bearing the brunt of it, with Irish supporters making him the culprit for Leinster’s implosion against the French.

It is not the first time the former Springbok coach has been made the scapegoat for Leinster’s shortcomings; earlier this season, former Ireland internationals also claimed that Nienaber’s defensive system has taken away from the team’s strengths.

If anybody should be the dartboard, it’s Leo Cullen. After all, he has been in this Champions Cup situation with Leinster four times before, and his team have nothing to show for it but runners-up mentions.