Ben Tameifuna woke up on Monday morning with a sore head and a sore body. Both, the Bordeaux prop conceded with a grin in this week's Maul or Nothing Rugby podcast, were earned. After Sunday's 38-26 Champions Cup semi-final win over Bath in front of a sold-out home crowd, Tameifuna had crashed off the bench in a fashion the broadcast was still talking about three days later — and the Tongan-Kiwi prop was happy to talk through how he and his Bordeaux teammates had jumped 'all these hurdles' to find themselves back in a Champions Cup final.
"The boys are pretty stoked," Tameifuna said. "We've jumped all these hurdles to get here now. And obviously got one more big hurdle to jump now. So a bit of celebration, few smiles in the changing room and stuff, which is good to see, especially having got the result the last couple of weeks. To get one on the weekend was just to bring a bit of buzz back in the changing room."
The semi-final's winning script — Bath leading deep into the match before Bordeaux's bench tipped the contest — felt to Tameifuna like a continuation of how the club has played all season.
"You look at that Bath team, they've got quality players right from the start from the starting team to the bench," he said. "We talked about the bench bringing a bit of energy, bring a bit of momentum. I just come on the field and you give the boys go forward. If I can give them go forward, get the likes of Louis and Damian a bit of space, you can just see what they can create out of nothing. So if I do my part, they do their part. If I can go forward at least five or six metres and hopefully my next step is meeting them at the halfway line."
The philosophy underpinning Bordeaux's running game, Tameifuna said, traces back to a name English-speaking audiences barely know — strength-and-conditioning specialist Tibo Giroud, who joined Bordeaux from a long stint with the French national setup and was an instrumental figure in shaping Les Bleus' modern, ball-in-play physical model.
"They're really big on, you know, leading the ball play," Tameifuna said. "Going past that international level — I think averaging two minutes thirty ball in play per phase or something. So we try to simulate as much as we can in the team. Sometimes it looks like it turns into a bit of touch rugby, but you've got to get Louis and chase down Louis and Damian in training, which is not fun. But what you see on game day is pretty much how we train as well — the ball being thrown around and quick rucks, offloads. It's not right up my alley, but like I said, I just do my part, they do their part."
The 'Louis' in question is Louis Bielle-Biarrey, the 22-year-old Bordeaux winger and one of world rugby's most-discussed talents. Tameifuna, who has been at the club since the early days of the BLB-Lucu-Jalibert generation, said he had been struck watching teenage prodigies turn into the side's spine.
"I was already an established player and then having these young boys coming when they're 18, 19 to be where they are now," Tameifuna said. "Yeah, there were a few times where I'm sitting there like, jeez, I'm going to miss this because I'm not getting any younger. So pretty awesome to be a part of it and to be amongst these young boys that are going to be legends of France."
On Mathieu Jalibert, Tameifuna offered an unusual character read for a fly-half. The host put it to him that Jalibert plays very differently from Finn Russell, whom the panel had described as a player who simply contributes and gets boys on the ball. Tameifuna agreed — Jalibert runs hard, throws chips and chases, and leaves the field-management to his half-back partner. "You need someone like the petty general — Lucu's going to actually steer you about the field. So he's like the grafter and then if he fancies a bit of flair, send it out to those guys up the back."
Lucu, the Bordeaux captain and France scrum-half, drew the warmest line of the interview. "He's in and amongst it," Tameifuna said. "He's in the four sometimes — he's sticking his head in there in the mauls and stuff. He's not afraid to get into the dark places. One game I think he made like 23 tackles or something, and it was in and around the loose forward stats. He loves to get in amongst the contact area."
The Bielle-Biarrey comparison, naturally, was to a player Tameifuna grew up alongside at the Chiefs. "The closest person I could probably put him down to would be like Damian McKenzie. When we were at the Chiefs, he wasn't the biggest in size, but he threw his body around and had a good head on his shoulders as well. Exactly the same as Louis — really talented. I feel like he's going to be one of, one of a legend one day. I'm just fortunate to be in and around him at the moment."
The Chiefs reference led naturally back to Dave Rennie, the new All Blacks coach Tameifuna spent four years with at Waikato. "Super coach," Tameifuna said. "Loved getting around the boys. Always had the guitar out. Really stripped back the Chiefs and made us connect with the community a lot. Lots of engagement, really built a good culture there. Even when I was still at the Chiefs, I was like, he's going to leave soon for a coaching role at the All Blacks sooner or later. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I think he's got a lot to bring to the team and he already knows half the boys there in the team anyway."
The blunt question — does he want to be starting in Bilbao on the 24th, or doing what he just did off the bench against Bath? — drew a careful answer. "As a player, you always want to start, you know, you train hard during the week, try and put everything forward to push for starting position," Tameifuna said. "But obviously it's a collective, a group thing. The coaches have a plan and a vision. If the team wins, we all win."
Head coach Yannick Bru's pitch to him, as Tameifuna explained it, is the modern French version of the bench philosophy that has redefined Test rugby. "He'll just give me a tap on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, I understand that you want to start, but we feel that your impact off the bench for the group is huge. You just bring a bit more power and experience and stuff when things tend to get a little bit tight towards the end of the game.'"
The city, Tameifuna said, is buzzing for back-to-back. "To win one is special and then to go back-to-back will be even more more special. You guys saw footage from last year when we got back in the city and the bus through the city and stuff. So that was pretty awesome. I feel if we go back-to-back and come back with something, it's probably going to double that. There's already people's families and stuff already trying to fly in just for the celebration, hopefully."
The last time he was in Bilbao for a Champions Cup final, in 2018 with Racing 92, Tameifuna walked off the loser. The opponent on Saturday week, Leinster, will be wearing Champions Cup blue too. "It's not going to be easy," he said. "It's one of the best teams in Europe. I think the last time I was in Bilbao was the same situation, with Racing in 2018, we played Leinster in the final as well."
Another chance, then, on the same patch of grass. The opponent he never beat. The forward platform that already feels less like a set piece and more like a launchpad. And, off the bench, a wrecking ball who knows the role he is being asked to play.
