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Top 14 2020/21 club-by-club season preview: Bordeaux

Bordeaux Begles' French centre Remi Lamerat (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP) (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

It’s a stretch to say Bordeaux would probably have won the 2019/20 Top 14 season – there were, after all, nine rounds of the regular season and the play-offs to go. It’s not a stretch to say they were, week-in week-out, the best side in the Top 14. There’s no reason not to expect more of the same in this campaign.

Key signing

Joseph Dweba. All respect to the outlandishly talented Ben Lam, but the try-loving hooker could turn out to be the Top 14 signing of the season – and he opened his account as part of a pushover collective a minute from the final whistle of the opening match of preseason. An honourable mention is deserved, though, for Lam. Bordeaux, already scary, are going to be terrifying.

Key departure

Semi Radradra. No side – not even one that has recruited and retained as well as Bordeaux – could escape losing Radradra unscathed. Frankly if he’d opted to stay at Chaban-Delmas rather than head to Bristol it would be best to give Bordeaux next season’s Top 14 title and pre-qualify them for the Champions Cup quarters.

They say

“If I don’t use them, it’s a skill issue. When I went to Bordeaux, I saw the profile of the team, what the players are capable of doing. With Jalibert or Botica, who are very offensive, if I do not get them to attack, I am the king of idiots” (Head coach Christophe Urios, francetvsport)

We say

It was one of the great mysteries of the Top 14 – how a side as full of individual talent as Bordeaux could not even finish in the play-off places, let alone challenge for the title. Under Raphael Ibanez, Jacques Brunel and Rory Teague – and then under the interim charge of Joe Worsley – they were a side that flattered to deceive.

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The answer, it turned out, was simple. There was no team culture, no identity to speak of. That has been Christophe Urios’s great coaching trick. Identify and latch on to a culture and build a team spirit. He did it at Oyonnax. He did it at Castres. And he’s doing it at Bordeaux.

Bordeaux cultural creator

Only at Bordeaux, he first had to create a culture because, bizarrely, there was none. The one he’s created is based around good living, family and enjoyment. And that’s what drives Bordeaux’s ambitious, attacking, joyous rugby now.

Interestingly, the style he developed at Bordeaux is very different from the workmanlike, no-frills ones he made a virtue at Castres and Oyonnax. That worked at both clubs – players and their fans bought into the work ethic, team first thing.

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      Could State of Origin work in union?

      It would have been easy for him to take that and work it into the Bordeaux system. That he didn’t – that he saw the team he had and adopted his planning to their strengths – is testament to him as a coach. There is no such thing Urios-ball.

      Attacking style

      At Bordeaux, he has the tools for all-out attacking play. That’s what they did in his first season, to great effect. Expect more of the same wave-after-wave attack-and-counter this season. And, unlike Toulouse, Racing 92 or Montpellier, they won’t lose as many players to the congested international calendar. This season could be Bordeaux’s.

      Arrivals

      Ben Tameifuna; Joseph Dweba; Maxime Lamothe; Guido Petti; Pablo Uberti; Ben Lam; Nathanael Hulleu

      Departures

      Peni Ravai; Leonardo Ghiraldini; Adrien Pelissie; Florian Dufour; Masalosalo Tutaia; Lucas Meret; Semi Radradra; Blair Connor; Nicolas Plazy

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      It was a cold evening when I realized I had lost everything. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at my empty crypto wallet. Three hundred thousand dollars’ worth of Bitcoin—gone. I had fallen victim to an elaborate scam, a promise of high returns that had turned into my worst nightmare.I had always been cautious with my investments, but these scammers were professionals. They posed as a legitimate crypto investment firm, complete with a polished website, convincing testimonials, and even fake regulatory approvals. Their scheme was perfect—until it wasn’t. After weeks of trying to recover my funds on my own, filing complaints, and chasing shadows, I almost gave up. That’s when I stumbled upon Galaxy Ethical Tech, a company renowned for its expertise in ethical tech solutions and cryptocurrency fraud recovery. Skeptical yet desperate, I reached out to Galaxy Ethical Tech through their official website. Within hours, I received a response from their lead investigator, Daniel Carter. His calm yet confident tone gave me a renewed sense of hope. We’ve handled cases like yours before,” he assured me. “If the scammers haven’t moved your Bitcoin through an extensive network of tumblers, there’s a good chance we can track it. I handed over all the details—wallet addresses, transaction IDs, emails, and even chat logs with the scammers. Within 48 hours, their team of blockchain analysts got to work.Galaxy Ethical Tech used advanced blockchain forensics to trace the movement of my stolen Bitcoin. Every transaction left a digital footprint, and with their AI-driven tracking tools, they followed the money trail. It turned out that the scammers had transferred my Bitcoin through a series of crypto mixers, attempting to break the chain of traceability. However, Galaxy Ethical Tech had access to specialized de-anonymization algorithms and partnerships with global cybersecurity agencies. One breakthrough came when they identified a suspicious transaction leading to a centralized exchange. Using legal channels and law enforcement partnerships, they froze the scammer’s wallet before they could cash out.After two intense weeks, I received an email from Galaxy Ethical Tech: We’ve recovered your lost Bitcoin. Expect the full amount in your wallet within 24 hours. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I checked my wallet obsessively until, finally, my 300,000 BTC was back.You don’t know what this means to me,” I said, my voice shaking.He chuckled. “Just another day at Galaxy Ethical Tech. Stay safe, and always verify before you trust. Losing my Bitcoin was a nightmare, but it taught me valuable lessons: Never trust unsolicited investment opportunities. Always verify the legitimacy of crypto platforms. Use secure wallets and enable two-factor authentication. If scammed, act fast and contact professionals like Galaxy Ethical Tech.Thanks to their ethical approach and cutting-edge technology, I got a second chance. If you ever find yourself in a crypto scam, don’t lose hope—there are still heroes in the digital world.

      contact them via Email: galaxyethicaltech@mail.com Whatsapp: +15072712442 Telegram: Galaxy_ethical_tech

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