Carbery and McNamara play their part in Bordeaux's rise
WHEN JOEY CARBERY suffered a hand injury on his Top 14 debut for Bordeaux back in September, he could scarcely believe it.
The out-half had upped sticks from Munster to enjoy a fresh start in France. After years of his body breaking down at the worst times and the struggles for selection and form that resulted, things were surely going to be different with Union Bordeaux Bègles [UBB].
So it must have been deeply frustrating to suffer an injury he's had to deal with before.
And yet, Carbery already sensed at that stage that the move to Bordeaux had been a great decision.
It's a beautiful city. Carbery's wife and son, who soon turns one, moved over with him and the memories they're making will undoubtedly last a lifetime. Carbery probably also appreciated from early on that he had joined a special rugby club on the rise.
Bordeaux sell out the Stade Chaban Delmas for every home game, welcoming in a vocal crowd of more than 32,000 people. UBB have cleverly assembled an excellent squad in recent years, with long-serving president Laurent Marti continuing to ensure the necessary resources are in place.
It must be a thrill to be part of a squad including players like Damian Penaud, Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Yoram Moefana, Pete Samu, Guido Petti, Ben Tameifuna, and rising stars such as Nicolas Depoortère.
Carbery was another piece of the jigsaw because Bordeaux were looking for another strong out-half to complement France international Jalibert. Carbery's versatility was another attractive factor, as was his international experience. Only Petti, Jonny Gray, and Penaud in the UBB squad have more Test caps than Carbery's 37.
Former France hooker Yannick Bru joined as head coach in the summer of 2023, bringing Irish attack specialist Noel McNamara with him. It was nice for Carbery to have a familiar face to welcome him to Bordeaux at the start of the season.
Noel McNamara has made a big impression in Bordeaux. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Also on the UBB coaching staff are former Toulouse back row Shaun Sowerby [forwards], ex-France prop Jean-Baptiste Poux [scrum], former France scrum-half Christophe Laussucq [defence], ex-Springbok Heini Adams [skills], and former France S&C specialist Thibault Giroud. It's a highly-regarded coaching set-up.
Carbery knew all of this when he agreed to join Bordeaux, of course, but seeing the quality on a day-to-day basis is undoubtedly exciting.
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He finally got his second appearance for the club in early November when he returned from injury at out-half and it has been a happy run for Carbery ever since, leading to his cameo off the bench for the closing 11 minutes of last weekend's Champions Cup semi-final win over Toulouse.
29-year-old Carbery has played his part in this run to the final, starting the pool win away to Ulster at out-half, then starting at fullback in the pool victory over the Sharks, as well as coming off the bench in a win against Leicester.
He impressed at number 10 against Ulster in the Round of 16 before missing out on involvement in the quarter-final against his former club, Munster, as Bordeaux opted for a 6/2 bench split in the quarter-final. Carbery will be hoping there are no thoughts of that for the final against Northampton.
Carbery has had nine Top 14 starts this season, with eight at out-half and one at number 15, as well as coming off the bench five times. All in all, it has been a busy and happy opening campaign, with the best possibly ahead.
As well as reaching the Champions Cup final, UBB sit second in the Top 14 with four regular-season games remaining. Toulon are only two match points behind, so Bru's men have to get their foot back on the accelerator after back-to-back domestic defeats to Pau and La Rochelle.
A top-two finish would mean avoiding the barrages phase of the knock-outs and going straight into the semi-finals. It's a huge focus for Bordeaux.
Their scintillating attack means they can be confident of doing damage against any team, while last weekend's win over an admittedly depleted Toulouse shows that Bordeaux also have the forward might to out-muscle teams in high-stakes knock-out rugby.
Bordeaux have a highly talented squad. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The characteristic, stunning transition tries by Samu and Bielle-Biarrey were highlights, but Bordeaux must have taken immense satisfaction from overpowering Toulouse for their last two tries through Pierre Bochaton and Tameifuna. Last year's Top 14 final defeat to les Toulousains, a 59-3 hammering, is increasingly in the rearview mirror.
Attack coach McNamara obviously has serious weapons to work with, yet he has done an excellent job of providing some clever plans without getting in the way of or inhibiting that talent.
His starter players from set-piece have always been inventive and we've seen more examples of that with Bordeaux. Meanwhile, their phase-play attack has shape without being robotic. McNamara's system gets the best out of one thing that Bordeaux have in abundance – sheer speed.
Bielle-Biarrey, Jalibert, Penaud, Romain Buros and co. are lightning quick in the backs, and forwards like Samu, Marko Gazzotti, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea are mobile and explosive. UBB can go from standing still to top gear in the blink of an eye. McNamara has harnessed that quality well.
His coaching journey has been an intriguing one, all the more given his lack of a playing background. Glenstal, Clongowes, UCD, Ireland U20s, North Harbour in New Zealand, the Leinster academy, the Sharks of South Africa, and now Bordeaux. It's a rich, varied CV.
A former teacher, McNamara worked hard on his French from day one and speaks it well enough to appear on French TV. That effort to integrate never goes unappreciated in France, particularly given that some foreign coaches don't push themselves to learn.
But it is McNamara's coaching quality that has made the biggest impression and while many would like to see him back in Irish rugby, the Clare man has signed on with UBB until the summer of 2027.
He and Carbery will now hope to claim Champions Cup winners' medals in Cardiff in three weekends. It would be a second such medal for Carbery, who was on the bench for Leinster in the 2018 final against Racing 92.
The Bordeaux duo will wish a few of their compatriots well the night before in Cardiff.
Bath will take on Lyon in the Challenge Cup final, with former Leinster lock Ross Molony, ex-Ireland second row Quinn Roux, and former Ulster hooker Niall Annett part of former Munster boss Johann van Graan's squad.
Ross Molony has settled in well with Bath. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Roux started in the second row in last weekend's semi-final win over Edinburgh, while Molony and Annett both came off the bench, the hooker scoring a try.
31-year-old second row Molony has played 20 games so far in his first season with Bath, 11 of them in the starting team, and team-mates like Finn Russell have spoken positively about his knowledge and the standards he sets among the squad.
Annett, a former Ireland U20 captain, has forged an excellent career in England, firstly by becoming a much-loved figure at Worcester before joining Bath in 2022. The 34-year-old has played 21 times this season, with six starts in the number two shirt.
The last of Roux's 16 Ireland caps came in 2020. The former Leinster and Connacht man moved to Bath the same summer as Annett. The 34-year-old remains a powerful presence and has racked up 18 starts in the second row for van Graan's side this season.
Bath are favourites to win the Premiership. They have a 15-point lead with three regular-season games left. They will have to negotiate a semi-final and final, of course, but after last year's defeat to Northampton in the decider, many expect them to get over the line this time.
Before that, van Graan, whose staff includes former Munster defence coach JP Ferreira, will plan to lead Bath to Challenge Cup glory. They won the Premiership Rugby Cup in March, ending a 17-year trophy drought.
Molony, Roux, and Annett hope to help them to bigger and better achievements in the near future.
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