BBC Northern Ireland's Ireland Rugby Social special, recorded in Bilbao at the end of a punishing weekend for Irish rugby, opened with Tony McWaters' plain assessment. Leinster lost the Champions Cup final 41-19 to Bordeaux on Saturday night. Ulster lost the Challenge Cup final 24 hours earlier. Two finals, two French victors, and very little to argue about.
"It was done and dusted pretty early in," Gavin Andrews said of the Leinster defeat. "You look at half-time, you can't actually believe the score. Bordeaux were ruthless. When we looked at the stats, Leinster had more territory, more possession, more metres made — but at the same time, you just felt Leinster were working so hard for every score they got. Bordeaux could score from anywhere. They scored so quickly, and that just really turned the game."
Ian Humphreys, the former Ulster fly-half, made the same observation about the night before. "Territory possession last night, Ulster actually were on top at half-time," he said. "And Leinster were the same today. But Bordeaux were just more clinical. Leinster had to work really, really hard with ball in hand to get fractions of metres against a really good Bordeaux team defensively. The difference was, whenever it switched round, ball in hand Bordeaux were just a class above. They got the bounce of the ball, but again, whenever it came their way, they were clinical beyond belief. Second half — it was really, it was done and dusted at half-time, if the truth be told."
The panel argued that Bordeaux's structural advantage was physical rather than tactical. "Whenever Leinster carried, they were probably having to throw somebody extra into the ruck just to try and make that a little bit quicker," Humphreys said. "Bordeaux were just so good. Anytime Leinster got isolated, they were straight over the ball."
Andrews's pick of the match was the Bordeaux out-half. "For me, the halfbacks — Maxime Lucu, man of the match — but Jalibert at 10 was superb," he said. "He could be the best player in the world that's not getting the French team. He has to be pushing the boundary now. He really does. For me actually, Jalibert was the pick today. Everything — whether it was the ball out the back, chip kick through, the grubber kick. He had it all. He dominated, and came off after 65 minutes to 50,000 people on their feet applauding. His performance was worthy of that and more."
The most uncomfortable question of the recording was the one about Sam Prendergast, who was a spectator in the stand. The panel could not agree whether the omission was sensible or a sign of something deeper.
"Sam Prendergast is watching," Andrews said. "Seems odd that that superstar in the making — and will no doubt be in the future — is watching from the sidelines."
Humphreys offered a defensive-coach explanation. "We've got Jacques Nienaber as the coach, who's obviously very heavily defence-orientated," he said. "So perhaps he's looking at what's our strongest team defensively. Frawley and Harry Byrne are probably slightly stronger defensively than Sam Prendergast. On the flip side, if you're going with a mindset like some of these French teams who love to throw the ball about, do you go with the player who's got the most flair?"
Andrews argued the fly-half depth chart was creating awkward optics. "Crowley's gone next year," he said, referring to Jack Crowley's confirmed move from Munster to Connacht. "Prendergast is brought back in. There's no doubting his class. He's very young, he's very inexperienced — but again, that's where you want to play. That's where you make your mark."
The wider question, McWaters insisted, was structural. "We can't miss the point — is it five finals they've lost in seven or eight years?" he said. "Since 2018. Any other club in Europe would give anything to be in five finals. Yes, they haven't won it, yes, they haven't got over the line. But the fact that they're so consistent has to be applauded. The big question is: how do they get over the hump? Missing RG Snyman today is a massive loss. He's that extra physicality. He's that offloading threat. But it's just — do they have to try and reinvent their game? Do they have to get away, or does Irish rugby have to try and learn a slightly different way to play? Can they beat the big South Africans, the big French, the big English packs if they don't get physical dominance?"
