The Breakdown | Will Bath or anyone else stop the Bordeaux Bègles juggernaut in Europe?

Last week Northampton’s director of rugby, Phil Dowson, made an interesting comparison between boxing and rugby. He suggested there was a decent chance his side’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Bath would prove good viewing because of the clubs’ contrasting philosophies around how best to play the game. “Styles make fights” is a familiar ring mantra and the same is increasingly true in top-level rugby.

On the one hand you had Northampton, all razor-sharp angles and dextrous hands. On the other was Bath, renowned for their knack of wearing their rivals down and then picking them off in the closing stages. The upshot on Friday night, just as Dowson had predicted, was a truly classic knock-out tie in which Bath overcame an early 28-7 deficit to win 43-41 and reach their first European Cup semi-final in 20 years.

By comparison the glossy all-French duel involving Bordeaux Bègles and Toulouse on Sunday did not, at first glance, hit quite the same heights. The two sides know each other extremely well and, for a long time, the upshot was a cagey contest most notable for some exceptional defence and a stunning all-round individual display by Toulouse’s English flanker Jack Willis.

An entire column, by the way, could be written about English rugby’s treatment of Willis and his Bordeaux-bound brother Tom and the difference both could yet make to their country’s World Cup prospects next year. “Phenomenal” was the verdict of Benjamin Kayser on Premier Sports. “I’m happy for France that England don’t pick him.” Quite so.

For now, though, let’s focus on why Bordeaux are within 160 minutes of defending their Champions Cup title. And, specifically, whether anyone will be able to outlast them even when they are below their shimmering best. The Toulouse game was a prime example; not everyone would have backed UBB early in the second half with the visitors ahead 15-5 and Willis, in particular, proving une veritable peste.

But then what happened? Bordeaux rammed home 25 unanswered points while an increasingly deflated Toulouse, having previously lost their international prop Dorian Aldegheri to a 20-minute red card, failed to score again. Once again the home bench made a significant difference, none more so then the massive Ben Tameifuna who made a key impact at the breakdown and added an all-important close-range try. In time-honoured rope a dope style, Toulouse grew steadily wearier and ultimately trailed in a distant second.

The evidence would certainly imply it is a mistake to fixate solely on the fleet-footed brilliance of Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Matthieu Jalibert while ignoring the larger boulders – men like Tameifuna, Adam Coleman, Jefferson Poirot, Cameron Woki and Temo Matiu – who make Bordeaux increasingly tough opponents. It was a similar story in last year’s final: Northampton were right in the game at 20-20 but then failed to score a point in the second-half and went down 28-20.

The Saints will rightly point to the injuries that undermined their chances both in Cardiff last year and at the Rec on Friday, with Curtis Langdon and Tom Pearson the most recent casualties. Equally there is no ignoring the trend in big games between well-matched teams: starting fast is clearly desirable but finishing strongest is what wins modern-day trophies.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Maxime Lucu of Bordeaux Bègles celebrate their victory over Toulouse. Photograph: Duprat Stephane/Abaca/Shutterstock

Which is why it might pay not to write off Bath entirely ahead of their semi-final early next month. Yes it would have helped had the upcoming game been in Milton Keynes rather than on the banks of the Garonne but if there is any team precision engineered to counter UBB’s modus operandi it is potentially Johann van Graan’s squad.

Just when Bordeaux are looking to turn the second-half screw they will look up and see a team primed to do exactly the same. For Tameifuna read Thomas du Toit, the Bath tight-head who had the last set-piece laugh against Saints on Friday night.

Opposite Jalibert and Maxime Lucu will be the similarly influential Finn Russell and Ben Spencer, another contrasting duo who supply a nice tactical blend. You can also safely predict Bath will select a 6-2 bench with the deliberate aim of coming home punishingly hard. As Van Graan put it: “We don’t know how to give up.”

There is also an historical precedent. No one gave Bath much hope when they headed to Bordeaux in 1998 for the final of the old Heineken Cup, only for Andy Nicol’s side to score a 19-18 upset win over the then-holders Brive with full-back Jon Callard scoring all their points. It might just be worth Van Graan sticking up a few evocative images from that game to remind everyone that rugby outcomes are not always preordained.

And maybe history could yet repeat itself for another West Country side. Exeter Chiefs had their precarious moments in their Challenge Cup quarter-final in Treviso but their 44-41 win over Benetton was another throwback, this time to the days when the Chiefs’ refused to take no for an answer in Europe. This time they still have to go to Belfast to face Ulster but their ability to hang tough in the final quarter, with Henry Slade slotting some nerveless kicks, was reminiscent of their momentous double-winning season in 2020.

The Dragons will argue, rightly, that no oval-shaped fairytale could possibly eclipse the relative miracle of the previously downtrodden Welsh region going all the way in this season’s Challenge Cup. But if the Chiefs, rejuvenated in the latter stages of games this season following a brutally tough pre season, and Bath are both still standing on finals weekend in Bilbao next month it will stir some special memories. At which point, who knows? One last well-timed punch might just do it.

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