Latest news with #Bordeaux-Begles
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Rónan Kelleher and Leinster determined to go full bore for URC run-in
Rónan Kelleher didn't watch all of last Saturday's Champions Cup final between Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton Saints. The bit he did take in was more than enough to stir understandable pangs of regret. 'You naturally are thinking when you're watching it, 'it could have been us', but this year wasn't to be. Nothing we can do about it now, just focus on something that we can control, which is [the URC] and we'll focus on next year, next year.' It's already four weeks since Leinster let slip another golden opportunity to claim a fifth star by losing that semi-final to the Saints at the Aviva Stadium. Would they have beaten Bordeaux in Cardiff? We'll never know, and that should hurt too. If there was the sliver of a silver lining then it was in the fact that a former Leinster man got a winner's medal, even if Joey Carbery didn't feature on the day. And there was the input of another former Leinster employee in Noel McNamara. Now attack coach with Bordeaux, McNamara held a handful of different development roles at Leinster and he was a highly-rated Ireland U20s head coach when Kelleher was progressing through that portion of the national system. 'A legend. He has obviously done a great job, he's a great fella. I'm happy for him. As disappointed as I am it wasn't us, you're glad when it is one of your own gets a chance. 'I'm absolutely delighted for Noel and he has done a fantastic job, even going off to the Sharks before that. He did a great job with them as well. He's brilliant.' Kelleher's own frustrations were salved in part only five days after that Northampton loss when he was one of a dozen Leinster players, including housemate Hugo Keenan, to be selected for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. This will be his second summer in red. Four years ago he didn't make Warren Gatland's initial squad only to be called-up as a fourth, back-up hooker shortly after scoring four tries for Ireland against the USA in what was just his 12th Test cap. He arrived in South Africa the week of the first Test against the Springboks. This will be very different, as he beds in with the other 37 travellers from the off for a tour that won't be pared back and denuded of its usual colour by a pandemic. Kelleher has already checked in with the Lions for a get-to-know-you operational day in London two Sundays ago when they mingled with staff and fellow players and got to share the odd coffee and beer. Very different to 2021. 'Absolutely. There were no fans [then], so it was a very different tour. That kind of had its pros and cons. A pro was probably that you got to know everyone pretty well because you kind of had to. You were in each other's space 24/7. 'I was out there for, whatever it was, four weeks plus the Jersey training camp. In that regard it was good because you got to know everyone, but it wasn't really touring. From the chat we had over in London that time, it's going to be an unbelievable experience. 'The way people who have talked to us, who have been on that previous Lions tour, have said it has been brilliant, some of the highlights of their lives. Please God, all going well, it will be a good tour.' But forget the Lions and the Champions Cup for now. Leinster's ongoing failure to convert their raw materials and resources into trophies this past three seasons had already been an issue before the Saints defeat at the start of this month. Fail to win a first URC title and the klaxons will be blaring. That the URC is the less shiny of the two baubles available is undeniable but three successive semi-final league defeats have added considerably to the sense of a team saddled with a mental brittleness. They need to change that. 'Each year our goal is to win both. We put big emphasis on both. There has always been a massive focus. If there wasn't, it'd be doing a disservice to the lads who put in a big shift all year, who maybe aren't playing the European games and stuff like that. 'So it's absolutely massive for us as a group, as a whole, and also to give everyone a chance of lifting silverware, but probably most importantly the lads that are moving on and the lads who have gotten you to this point.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bordeaux's Poirot gets two-week ban after Northampton clash
Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot has been given a two-week ban for an altercation with Northampton's Henry Pollock after the Champions Cup final. Poirot was cited for grabbing the throat of the England and Lions flanker as tempers boiled over after the final whistle had blown to confirm his side's 28-20 win at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. Poirot will miss the final two games of Bordeaux's regular season. Tournament organiser European Professional Club Rugby said Poirot "accepted that he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card". A statement added: "The independent disciplinary committee upheld the complaint and it determined that the offending was at the low-end of World Rugby's sanctions and four weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point. "Taking into account the player's guilty plea, his good disciplinary record and his full co-operation with the disciplinary process, the committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50 per cent before imposing a two-week suspension." Listen: Sport's Strangest Crimes - Bloodgate Listen to the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Bordeaux-Begles prop Poirot banned for altercation with Pollock
Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot has been hit with a two-week ban following their Champions Cup final victory over Northampton Saints. Poirot was involved in a post-match clash with Northampton flanker Henry Pollock after their 28-20 win in Cardiff on Saturday. During a scuffle in which a number of players from both sides argued at full-time, the 32-year-old loosehead was alleged to have grabbed Pollock by the throat. Poirot will now miss Bordeaux's remaining Top 14 regular season clashes with Toulon and Vannes, before returning for the club's chase for a domestic and European double in the play-offs. Having appeared before independent disciplinary committee on Thursday, and accepted that his acts warranted a red card. "Taking into account the player's guilty plea, his good disciplinary record and his full co-operation with the disciplinary process, the Committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50% before imposing a two-week suspension," an EPCR statement said.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Bordeaux's Jefferson Poirot suspended after incident with Henry Pollock
Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot has been suspended for two weeks following an incident at the end of Saturday's Investec Champions Cup final. The 32-year-old was banned after clashing with Northampton Saints' back row Henry Pollock after the final whistle of his side's 28-20 win in Cardiff. Poirot was alleged to have grabbed Pollock by the throat when several players argued at full-time, which Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson said was "uncalled for and out of order". The loosehead appeared before an independent disciplinary committee this afternoon, and accepted he had committed an act of foul play, which warranted a red card. Poirot had been cited for a violation of Law 9.27, which states: "A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship". The independent Disciplinary Committee upheld the complaint, and it determined that the offending was at the low-end of World Rugby's sanctions and four weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point. "Taking into account the player's guilty plea, his good disciplinary record and his full co-operation with the disciplinary process, the Committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50% before imposing a two-week suspension," an EPCR statement said. Poirot will miss Bordeaux's final two games of the Top14 regular season versus Toulon and Vannes, but will be available to return for the play-offs.
The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
'I've got enough pain in my life' - James Lowe on not watching the Champions Cup final
WHILE IT was the main attraction in the world of rugby last weekend, Leinster winger James Lowe ultimately opted against watching Saturday's Investec Champions Cup final between Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton Saints at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Despite Lowe crossing the whitewash during a frantic final quarter, Leinster suffered an agonising defeat to Northampton at the penultimate stage of Europe's top-tier in the Aviva Stadium on 3 May. Although a trip to the zoo with his young family last Saturday morning also played its part, the Ireland international acknowledged it was a somewhat conscious choice not to view a Champions Cup decider that didn't feature the eastern province for the first time since 2021. 'I've got enough pain in my life with kids, I don't think I need to force anymore! You can say it's better, but I just didn't want to watch the game. 'It's not that I don't respect the two teams. It just sucks because I wanted to be there. It is what it is. A lot of boys are the same. Some boys could watch it. Some boys watch the replay,' Lowe explained at a Leinster media briefing on Monday. Advertisement 'I didn't know how big the zoo was. We took one pram, we've got two kids. I'm either carrying Nico [his son], or he is face-planting the whole time. That's what I did for the morning, and then in the afternoon, I'm literally entertaining him. 'I knew it was on. I was paying attention to my phone, just watching on the app. Fair play to Bordeaux, congratulations and commiserations to Saints. They have both been exceptional this year. It sucked this year that we weren't there, but that's how it happened.' Since his most recent competitive appearance for Leinster — in a 76-5 demolition of Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship at the Aviva Stadium on 10 May — Lowe fulfilled his first official duties as a British & Irish Lion at an admin day that was held in London last Sunday week. This offered him a taste of what to expect when he jets off next month with the rest of the Lions squad for their eagerly-anticipated Tour of Australia, but for now, the New Zealand-born star is firmly focused on ending the 2024-25 season with Leinster on a high. Although he was quick to point out to the assembled media on Monday that the province has just won the Irish Shield for a fourth year in succession, the past three seasons have seen Leinster missing out on major silverware in both the Investec Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship. While their latest quest to claim a fifth European star was halted by Northampton, there is still a chance for Leo Cullen's men to secure top honours in the URC during the current term. Three semi-final reversals on the bounce in this competition means Leinster are likely to face a mental challenge as well as a physical one in the coming weeks, but they will have to negotiate their way past Scarlets in a quarter-final at the Aviva this Saturday (kick-off 3pm) before they can think about finally achieving a last-four league victory. Yet their ultimate ambition is to lift the URC crown next month, and Lowe believes this would be a fitting way for departing players such as the Gloucester-bound Ross Byrne and the soon-to-be-retired Cian Healy to end their time with Leinster. 'When I look around the changing room and the people who aren't going to be here next year, the two you obviously think of are Ross Byrne and Cian Healy. Some of the best days of your life are when you win silverware together. For Ireland, we have been able to do that in recent years, but we haven't been able to transfer that with Leinster,' Lowe added. 'It doesn't mean that because you have won with Ireland, you are going to win with Leinster. You still have to come back here and perform on the biggest of days and under the most amount of pressure. That's what we want to do. 'We can't let Cian Healy leave Leinster without another silver medal around his neck again. It's not doing him justice. It's not doing Ross Byrne justice. Those boys watched Leinster at Donnybrook years and years ago. That's hopefully the plan for the next three weeks.'
