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Yannick Bru: 'I thought, oh my god, it's going to happen again'

By Ian Cameron at Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Bordeaux-Begles' owner Laurent Marti (L) and Bordeaux-Begles' French head coach Yannick Bru (C) celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions Cup Final rugby union match between Northampton Saints and Bordeaux-Begles at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, south Wales, on May 24, 2025. Bordeaux-Begles wins 28 - 20 against Northampton Saints. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Union Bordeaux-Bègles head coach Yannick Bru has praised his players for bouncing back from a “complete nightmare” at the end of last season to lift the 2025 Investec Champions Cup in Cardiff at the first time of asking.

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UBB ended their long wait for European glory with a dramatic 28–20 victory over Northampton Saints.

The win marks the first time the French club has claimed the title and comes just 12 months after back-to-back heartbreaks—losing a Champions Cup semi-final to Harlequins and being dismantled by Toulouse in the Top 14 final in Marseille.

The post-match press conference was briefly interrupted by a jubilant group of semi-naked Bordeaux players who stormed in, dousing Bru, captain Jefferson Poirot and scrum-half Maxime Lucu in beer and champagne.

Bru, visibly emotional and fighting back tears at the final whistle, told the press conference: “Well yes, these are very special times. Sometimes it’s a bit hard. I just want to share it with the people that count.

Match Summary

2
Penalty Goals
2
2
Tries
4
2
Conversions
1
0
Drop Goals
0
136
Carries
96
6
Line Breaks
8
13
Turnovers Lost
20
6
Turnovers Won
3

“And what counts are the two players on my right-hand side [Poirot and Lucu], when I knew I would be spending some time with them after. After my family, the second family is that of the UBB. And honestly, while Max was speaking and Jeff was speaking, I was thinking, the year that has gone past… we’ve been under a steamroller one year ago.

“We ended last year’s season with a complete nightmare; and hats off to the two leaders, Max and Jeff, because we really worked hard to get up and regain our trust and self-confidence, and what they’ve accomplished in one year is incredible.

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“I’m very, very proud of them.”

This victory marked the club’s first major trophy since its formation in 2006, a win Bru described as “absolutely delicious”.

“The journey we’ve been through over the last year, that’s really what we need to keep in mind. Superficially, trophies are important for us. If we had lost, because I thought in the last ten minutes ‘no, we are going to lose the match’, I thought hats off to the performance staff, as we had worked really hard. The staff have put a lot of players back onto the pitch. And we were in good form, and against Northampton, that counted in many moments of the match.

“I had very bad memories in Cardiff. I suffered a loss of sixty points as an international and I lost here more than not. I had a lot of nightmares here and I thought, ‘oh my god, it’s going to happen again’. This is the one that counts the most, this win, as it was absolutely magnificent.”

On the field, Bordeaux’s superior power and precision proved decisive, with Damian Penaud crossing twice and second rows Adam Coleman and Cyril Cazeaux also scoring. Despite two tries from flanker Alex Coles and a committed Saints performance, Bordeaux’s superiority ultimately told.

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Captain Lucu and fly-half Matthieu Jalibert managed the closing stages with assurance as Bordeaux joined the pantheon of French Champions Cup winners, making it five in a row for Top 14 clubs.

“There’s a lot of happiness,” said man of the match Lucu. “We wanted to be there at the final. Although there is a lot of pressure to enjoy the moment, we really wanted to win that trophy.

“We are so happy this evening for the club, the players, the staff, and the players who could not be with us on the pitch today, it was a real consecration.”

Veteran Bordeaux loosehead Jefferson Poirot was equally overjoyed at the historic win: “There is so much joy, I’ve waited so long for this.

“It’s the fruit of lots of work done over the last two seasons. It’s the slap in the face that we’ve bounced back from. We come to the place where we lost last year and we followed what he said and really went for it.”

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P
PM 30 minutes ago
Why Henry Pollock's x-factor could earn him a Lions Test start

I have been following Lions tours for the last 30 odd years and I can’t remember one feeling as flat as this one, so your damp squib comment is a fair one.


I think there are a few reasons for this;


1) The opposition isn’t that strong this tour and hasn’t generated the normal excitement and uncertainty for the tests, most people are expecting 0-3 (which has never happened in living memory before).


2) The growing discontent within the fan base at the number of “outside BIL “ born players in the squad is a growing issue. The import issue has reached saturation point with some fans and is a bit negative element to this tour (will improve as nation switching becomes harder).


3) The rugby so far hasn’t been great and the tactics to date are not very exciting. People expected more from Andy Farrell and his Lions team.


4) Lions management have scored some own goals with the selection and subsequent call ups. It should have been the best 44 players from the start of the tour but the recent call ups have been underwhelming and damaged the Lions brand for some fans.


5) This tour would have been better if they merged Australia with Argentina and the Lions played Fiji as a warm up game to give the Pacific Nations a better chance of exposure and glory to grow the game. This is the sort of innovative thinking they need to bring out the magic of the Lions brand and create an exciting experience for all.


What’s become clear is the next tour needs to be an exciting one before people forget how magical a Lions tour can feel and the Lions brand is damaged to the point of questioning why it continues. The writing is on the wall, so lets hope the Lions see it and correct some of the above by the next tour.

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P
PM 1 hour ago
Why Henry Pollock's x-factor could earn him a Lions Test start

Nick,

I am a long suffering England fan, who has had to endure watching 4 years of dull rugby, poor selections and painful defeats. Steve Borthwick talks about GPS and picks squads by numbers and then we put in a poor performance on the pitch - it’s been a consistent trend.


Something changed in the Six Nations and we totally changed our style (literally overnight) and played some really good footie, which finally felt like positive rugby for a change.


Genge has regained his pore-Covid form and is looking back to his best and is head and shoulders above Porter.


Chessum has had a good year and hasn’t played a poor International game this season.


Tom Curry was outstanding in the 6 Nations but they have been playing him at 6, wheras he is better at 7 and is lethal at the breakdown.


Tom Willis was brought into the starting team at 8 and has been one of the best England players over the last year, who should have been on this Lions tour at 8. Earl had his best game since 2020 last week - not sure 1 game warrants Lions selection over a poor combination side and he is certainly second choice for his club 7 country behind Willis.


Pollock will be a good player but like all young emerging players, he is inconsistent and can go quiet in games, which is why Curry should be the starter at 7. He brings energy to games, which is why he is good from the bench but there is an argument to say he is the 5th best England openside (Curry x2, Underhill & Earl are currently better) but will improve over the next 5 years. We just need to stop the media building him up for a fall, let him play and develop and you will see a sensational Henry Pollock for the Lions in 4 years time.


Lions will be too powerful over 80 mins, so doesn’t really matter who they pick. Just please don’t put too much hype on Pollock. His 20 mins of International rugby going into this tour were positive but the media caused a frenzy and no other player would be selected on this basis.


Let’s enjoy the rugby and give Pollock the space and time he requires.

102 Go to comments
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