Bordeaux produced a dominant display to retain the Champions Cup, defeating Leinster in a one-sided final in Bilbao. The French champions led 35-7 at half-time and cruised to victory, with wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey scoring two tries to take his season tally to 34 in 30 games. The win extends French dominance in the competition to six consecutive years.
Leinster, who have now lost five of the last eight finals, struggled to contain Bordeaux's attacking flair. The Irish province scored first through Tommy O'Brien but were quickly overwhelmed. Tries from Maxime Lucu, Pablo Uberti, Bielle-Biarrey (two) and Yoram Moefana put the result beyond doubt by the interval.
Leinster rallied in the second half, with Joe McCarthy and Garry Ringrose crossing the line, but two Lucu penalties steadied Bordeaux. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen admitted his side were not clinical enough: 'Unfortunately, the game got away from us in the first half. We weren't good enough today.'
The victory caps a remarkable season for Bordeaux, who also saw Bielle-Biarrey named player of the year. The combination of half-backs Matthieu Jalibert and Lucu proved too sharp for Leinster's defence, which had been the tournament's meanest heading into the final.
