As first-time finalists in the French championship, last season’s Top 14 decider in the Stade Vélodrome could hardly have been more harrowing. Yet the Bordeaux Bègles attack coach Noel McNamara believes the experience of that 59-3 loss to Toulouse 11 months ago will stand to the club as they seek their first major trophy in Saturday’s Champions Cup final against Northampton Saints at the Principality Stadium (kick-off 2.45pm, live on RTÉ2 and Premier Sports).
McNamara and the Bordeaux coaches have always said they needed to get back to a final as soon as possible in order to heal the scars from that 56-point defeat and they have done so at the first available opportunity in what will be their first European Cup final.
“After the disappointment of last year it was about getting back to this stage and seeing how we deal with it,” McNamara told The Irish Times ahead of the team’s lighthearted Captain’s Run, when the cheers and laughter of a 16-a-side game of tip rugby echoed under the enclosed Principality Stadium roof.
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In dealing with the “logistics” of the club’s first final last June, McNamara admitted “everyone made mistakes”. “Not just the players, around the hotel, the travel, when we got there, around the food. For nearly everybody at the club it was their first final.
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“There were a lot of learnings taken from that and it’s been much more seamless this time. I remember last year they were still talking about tickets for the family and how they were going to get to the game on the Friday,” said McNamara, adding that Toulouse, serial finalists, had booked their hotel on the outskirts of Marseilles the preceding March.
The coach from O’Callahgan’s Mills in East Clare has taken a circuitous route to this point – via Clongowes Wood College, the Ireland schools, Leinster under-20s, Ireland under-20s, and the Sharks in Durban – and is himself one game away from the biggest achievement of his coaching career.
But, reflecting on Northampton’s stunning 37-34 win over Leinster in the semi-final at the Aviva Stadium, McNamara made an interesting observation.
“We understand the threat that Northampton pose. Obviously that performance against Leinster was incredibly impressive. I think the thing about Leinster is you probably know what’s coming in terms of their defence and their strike plays. Northampton are a little bit more unpredictable and a little bit more difficult to prepare for, a little bit more adaptable in how they attack and how they defend.
“I do think they were very intelligent in the semi-final, but I think if you look at it over a period of time they’re a team that has played against Saracens and that blitz defence in their heyday, and they just seemed to have all the solutions to it. Hopefully [on Saturday] we can pose some different questions in attack and defence, but it’s going to be incredibly difficult.”
McNamara places huge trust in the heads-up attacking instincts of the Bordeaux Bègles talisman and playmaker Matthieu Jalibert, who was outstanding in their 35-18 semi-final win over Toulouse and again in the victory over Castres last weekend.
“It’s pretty straightforward, you just try and put options in place and I haven’t seen anybody with the capability of taking the options as well as he does. So, every time Matthieu gets the ball we try to have options around him, on his inside, on his outside, options behind and there’s always the option of going over the top of the defence as well.
“He’s just incredibly good at choosing the right option and he has the speed and the skill set to take advantage of it. So, when you put it all together, he’s got a good kicking game, he can kick long, he’s got exceptional vision and then he’s quick.
“We are what I would describe as a relational attack. It’s about building connections with each other and about having the ability to read off each other. When you get players that are prepared to back each other it’s a pretty good mix,” said McNamara.
For Bordeaux Bègles to win a first major trophy less than 20 years since they were formed (following a merger between Stade Bordelais and Club Athlétique Bordeaux-Bègles Gironde) would almost seem inevitable for this steadily progressive club, which has become the best supported outfit in the Top 14 in recent seasons.
“It would be incredible,” admitted McNamara. “It’s an extraordinarily well-run club under Laurent Marti, the president, who genuinely has done an awful lot of this himself. He’s been the driving force behind the club since it was formed in 2006.
“They’ve gone from being promoted in 2011 to achieving consistent levels of success. He’s adamant that it will be done fairly. There’s nothing done outside the salary cap. Year on year he’s a staunch advocate of being self-sufficient. Ultimately it is about trying to ensure that the club isn’t massively in debt.”
At the press conference, it was asked why the club placed more emphasis on the Champions Cup than the Top 14, but McNamara countered: “There isn’t. There are two competitions that you can win, and they are both fantastic competitions.
“The history of the Top 14 is magnificent, there’s no doubt about that, but there’s an international feel in the club. Jonny Gray, Arthur Retiere and Joey Carbery have all won this competition, and Yannick Bru has [won] as a player and a coach.
“Winning that first one would be special and hopefully the start of something, but it’s not a final destination. The way the club is set up and how it’s run, there’s no reason why it can’t go on to have continued success.”
