Dec 15,2024
It was little over 12 months ago when Bordeaux-Begles turned up to Galway to face Connacht in the opening round of the 2023/24 Investec Champions Cup and nobody was quite sure what to expect.
There was even a feeling that the visitors might just live up to the stereotype of a French side on the road in the early European rounds (see Stade Francais last weekend).
Connacht, after a positive start in the URC, loaded up with Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham all starting, while Yannick Bru's side had lost all four pool games the previous season and lay seventh in the Top14.
While the visitors arrived with Maxime Lucu, Damian Penaud and Matthieu Jalibert, they rested France World Cup stars Yoram Moefana and Louis Bielle-Biarre for that trip to the old Sportsground.
The wind and rain had largely disappeared before kick-off, and two hours and six tries later, any suspicion that Bordeaux weren’t taking Europe seriously had also disappeared.
In the end, UBB just missed out on a semi-final after losing to Harlequins by a point in the quarter-final.
On the home scene, they made it all the way to the Top14 final but got caught under the wheels of a rampaging Toulouse side, who had already been crowned European champions.
Ulster, more than anyone, know how that feels. Richie Murphy’s men shipped nine tries last weekend to the six-time Champions Cup winners.
The target last Sunday was a bonus point of some description, with Ireland players, who were lightly raced over the autumn, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Cormac Izuchukwu and Nick Timoney on the bench.
Today, the big guns all start for their second Pool 1 clash (kick-off 3.15pm)
Murphy, under budget restraints and with a young squad, is playing the long game this season but they missed almost one in four of their tackle attempts in the 61-21 loss, and that’s not okay in any circumstance.
"It won’t be until the last day of the season until we see where they are in the URC that you’ll be able to make a call about whether he was right or wrong.
"I think if they got another try there they’re pretty happy that they had achieved their goal, 'cos they have managed to mind key players and get one point."
Bordeaux are second in the Top14 table having won eight games, including a success at Toulouse in September.
They were sluggish at the start at home to Leicester last weekend but hit the Tigers for three quick-fire tries in a nine-minute spell at the start of the second half and ran out 42-28 victors.
"Bordeaux can be quite loose themselves, super talented, but they were in a hole against a second-string Leicester team," said Jackman.
"Bordeaux were just asleep really for the first half and in the second half they scored tries which only they could score.
"The opportunity is there [for Ulster] in that Bordeaux tend to be quite inconsistent within games but the challenge is when they are on [it], not leaking points because their x-factor, power, creativity is phenomenal."
There’s no doubt that Ulster have had a pin in this game since the draw was made but it’s also has the look of a game that Bordeuax can target as well.
Ten points off their opening two games would be a lot of heavy lifting and allow them breathing space after Christmas.
Joey Carbery comes in for Jalibert, who is left at home to rest, while the other six backs, Bielle-Biarrey, Penaud, Nicolas Depoortere, Moefana, Arthur Retiere and Lucu are France internationals, and won't need any second invitations to do damage.
The Ravenhill crowd are usually worth a couple of tries for the hosts, although the mid-afternoon Saturday kick-off isn’t as much of a rouser as the weekend night lights, and even that didn't help them when Toulouse visited last January.
"I’ve no doubt we’ll be better this week in some things than last time, but the big thing is can we be better in every moment of the game?" wondered Ulster assistant coach Dan Soper during the week.
"The thing is when you play a team like Toulouse, Bordeaux, Leinster, a team at the top, they keep asking questions relentlessly for 80 minutes and you might get it right two, three, four times, but they keep coming back with five, six, seven questions and at the very top that’s the tough thing."
