Bordeaux-Begles dominate Leinster to lift Champions Cup trophy again

The French juggernauts held a vice-grip over the competition right across the campaign, and put the cherry on top with a dominant five-try victory under the Bilbao sun.

However, it marks yet another defeat for Leinster at this stage, with Leo Cullen's side losing five of the past six finals.

As you would have hoped, the game began at utterly breakneck speed, with both sides exchanging tries in the opening stanza.

Leinster were the first to make a dent on the scoreboard, with the returning Tommy O'Brien crossing out wide after a concentrated period of play inside Bordeaux's 22. Harry Byrne's touchline conversion split the uprights, extending their lead further.

However, just moments after celebrating their opener, Leinster were back under their own sticks as Maxime Lucu burrowed his way over from short range to score. The scrum-half subsequently slotted the conversion, making it 7-7 inside 14 minutes.

It seemed pretty even at this stage, but Bordeaux soon started pulling away.

Finals are often won on small moments, and Bordeaux's second try certainly came as a result of one too. What first appeared to be a misplaced kick from Louis Bielle-Biarrey was soon proved to have been touched by Hugo Keenan, giving the French side a golden opportunity inside Leinster's five-metre.

A chance like this needs to be taken in a game of this magnitude, and Bordeaux did exactly that as Pablo Uberti finished off a gorgeous first-phase strike play from the subsequent scrum. Lucu added his second conversion of the day, pushing his side a full seven points ahead at the first water break.

Momentum was already swinging towards the French side at this point, and they seemed to be relishing it with a third try in the space of 10 minutes. This effort was more akin to La Rochelle's outright brutality than Bordeaux's flair, but it was just as effective as Bielle-Biarrey danced his way through the defence and over the try-line after some gnarly efforts from the pack.

Leinster needed a quick response if they stood any chance of coming back into the contest, a weird position for them to be in after just 27 minutes. A penalty in Bordeaux's half and a bit of good fortune via Cameron Woki swatting the ball dead gave them prime position to do that, too, with Leinster setting up camp inside the five-metre area, but a knock-on brought the attack to a grinding halt.

That missed chance soon came back to haunt Leinster, too, as Bielle-Biarrey soon added his second of the afternoon after a spectacular solo break from Damian Penaud.

Bordeaux weren't done with the opening half yet, though, as Yoram Moefana pinched a clever interception just as Leinster looked to get into position to strike and duly raced home for an uncontested try. Lucu swiftly added his fifth conversion of the half, giving them a healthy 35-7 lead going into the sheds.

Moments win finals, and Bordeaux won every single one in the first-half.

It seemed Leinster needed a miracle to get back into the game, and a yellow card to Lucu seemed just the foothold they needed to get back into it.

With numerical advantage, Leinster finally started asking serious questions of the Bordeaux defence, and that ultimately paid off as Joe McCarthy crossed from short range to grab their second and cut the deficit.

The question now was whether they could turn it into real momentum.

There were signs of life soon after. Where they were shut down at every occasion in the first-half, they began to break through the Bordeaux line a tad easier. Where they lacked invention ball-in-hand in the first, they seemed to have a bit more creativity after that try.

But, the outcome was exactly the same, with McCarthy's try the only dent Leinster made in the scoreboard during that 10-minute spell.

With momentum starting to swing Leinster's way, largely due to the impact of replacement Ciarán Frawley, the next points felt crucial. Step up Lucu, who drilled two long-range penalties through the uprights to extend their lead heading into the closing moments.

Leinster's improvement certainly warranted a try, though, and they finally got the rewards as Garry Ringrose crossed from short range.

Ultimately, though, it was too little too late as Bordeaux held onto claim their second Investec Champions Cup title in a row.