Latest news with #InvestecChampionsCup
RTÉ News
a day 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
2 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.'
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Ian Costello: Quarter-final not a 'free shot' for Munster
While the pressure of securing Investec Champions Cup qualification is off their backs, Ian Costello insists Munster are by no means in bonus-territory ahead of Saturday's BKT United Rugby Championship quarter-final against the Sharks. A 32-man squad arrived in Durban this week for what could be two weeks in South Africa; if they win on Saturday, they will likely move on to Pretoria for a semi-final versus the Bulls. There was great relief at the province this month when wins over Ulster and Benetton saw them scrape into the play-offs, and crucially secured their Champions Cup place for next season. And although Costello admits that has lifted a weight off their shoulders, he says there is still a pressure for them to deliver in knockout rugby. "It absolutely isn't a free shot," Munster's interim coach said, ahead of Saturday's quarter-final. "There's an expectation we need to be in knockout rugby, there's a lot of pressure to get there. But now that we're here, we're very, very ambitious on what we want to achieve. "We all know that we had to get into the play-offs. We had to get into the Champions Cup, that's the expectation that comes with Munster, rightly so. "I think it was really important that we drew a line under that first. We put an awful lot into that physically, mentally and particularly emotionally in that last two weeks. There was so much to be pleased with in those last two weeks." While the play-offs officially start this weekend, Munster have effectively been playing knockout rugby for much longer, with their season on the line for those games against Benetton and Ulster. And while those games were physically and emotionally draining experiences, Costello says they've come to South Africa feeling fresh after a much needed weekend off. "This group, over the last couple of weeks, have really showed how much they care about each other. It came out in the way we trained, prepared, what we would have seen behind closed doors and what you would have seen in the performances. "You don't get the intensity and physicality of a performance like that unless there is a real deep care and it means a huge amount to this group. "I think that was huge to get that job done, but we've had a taste of play-offs before, we've played a few knock-out this year, more than we would have liked, especially over the last couple of weeks. That's set us up to have a real crack at this week, so it's a fresh focus and just really excited about play-off rugby." Saturday's quarter-final also brings them back to the site of one of this season's low points when they were beaten 41-24 by the Sharks in Round 5 of the regular season, with head coach Graham Rowntree leaving his role just a few days later. But Costello, who has been in interim charge since then, says they aren't motivated by what happened on that tour. "No, that hasn't come into it at all of I'm honest. "I think the squad is in a different place. You look at the squad that actually travelled over here, we looked at it yesterday and there's a huge difference between the squad that travelled over in October versus the squad that's over here this weekend, or this week. "It feels like there's an awful lot more experience, guys really hitting their form, as I said, really competitive. We've had two weeks and that really helps. "We know them [the Sharks] really well. We've looked at their last half dozen games as we always do. But a huge amount of focus has been on us, if I'm honest. Look at how we've improved over the last period and how we've managed two very, very high pressure games. "Essentially, we're into the third knockout game in a row now because effectively that's what it was. So we've extracted a lot of our learnings around that, that has confidence in the group and it keeps the focus on who we are and what we do well as well." There was positive news this week with confirmation that out-half Jack Crowley (below) will be fit after recovering from a rib injury picked up in Round 18, while Diarmuid Barron and Jeremy Loughman are also back on deck after missing time with injury. And Costello says a healthy squad will be vital if they're to go on a repeat run of their title win from 2023. "I suppose you go back six months and our availability was not where we would have liked it to be. There was a lot of challenges and changes at the club, and we probably didn't have the deep squad to select from those early games and that's what's so pleasing about where we're at now. The squad is really competitive. "That comes out in selection, but it also comes out in training every day, so it means every single training session is better. People are really driven to perform in training, they know that training matters and there's probably 27, 28 guys that are really competitive to make a 23, or even a 15 at the moment. That drives standards right across the board. "Bar a couple of players, we're in a pretty good position in terms of the health of our squad this week, and will need to be," Costello added.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Bordeaux Champions Cup victory based on method behind the flair
Bordeaux Begles were crowned the Investec Champions Cup winners after a dominant second half got them over the line. It's great for the competition to have another name on the trophy. Both Bordeaux and Northampton contesting a final meant that other European juggernauts were beaten, which brought excitement to the game. These two teams bring enough excitement on their own merit. They're two of the most free-flowing attacking teams when they get possession and fully deserved their place in the final. What was more surprising is that the second half finished 8-0 to the French side. Despite a frenetic start to the game by Northampton, and a 20-20 first half, Saints failed to score in the second half. Bordeaux average 17 points in the final quarter of games, yet they only scored eight points in the second half. It shows how finals can be different to the game played for most of the year. Pressure builds and the game goes from set-piece to set-piece with many turnovers in between. With the attacking flair and individual brilliance in the Bordeaux team, they haven't been getting the credit they deserve for their tactical awareness and ability to control the game. That's most likely due to the distraction of Matthieu Jalibert's spontaneous decision-making, and the speed of both wingers when they get possession from him. However, they won the game last weekend because of their kicking and rucking tactics. Their kicking certainly increased when they took a two-score lead in the second half. Every team would have done the same. They kicked off first phase and boxed Northampton into areas that made it much more difficult to launch any attack that was worthy of changing the momentum of the game. However, they kicked regularly throughout the game, maybe not always in a structured way, but they still used a strong kicking game to dominate proceedings. "Scrum-half Maxime Lucu was the puppet master of the whole game" Add to that the ruck pressure that they put the English champions under. Not only did it slow the Northampton attacking quality, but Bordeaux turned over many balls from their counter-rucking. It was a clear tactic from early in the game. It's funny that an attacking team can adopt 'negative' tactics in the game and nobody will call them out for it. If you put a different emblem or colour on the jersey, there would have been calls for less kicking. However, even when they could have kept possession in the final two minutes, Jalibert still kicked a cross-field pass to Damian Penaud. They're a class team with a strong identity and they back themselves fully. Still, it's worth recognising the balance of their game. Scrum-half Maxime Lucu (above) was the puppet master of the whole game. He took control in both 22 metre areas. He kicked long and even unorthodox at times from the base of the ruck. They chipped balls from the middle of the 22 in their own half. It was a clear exit strategy because defensive teams so often give up that space in the middle of the pitch, in favour of covering the sidelines and filling the front field to put pressure on their opposition. There were two distinct times when Lucu kicked a run-on wedge-type kick that Jalibert was fully committed to chasing. It's a brave tactic, and one that only a confident and progressive team will uphold during the pressure of a final. Jalibert may get the credit for flashes of brilliance in attack, but Lucu, man of the match, controlled which side of the ruck that the Bordeaux attack would go. He bounced left and right and never allowed the Northampton defence to settle or regain control. The Top 14 side should have won the game twice over with the amount of territory and entries that they had in the Northampton 22. Bernard Jackman shares the story of Louis Bielle-Biarrey's rise #InvestecChampionsCup 📱 Updates - 📺 Watch live - — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 24, 2025 Lucu guided his powerful and explosive forwards over the gain line around the ruck. There were times when you wondered how Northampton were stopping the Bordeaux surge at their line. The fact that they were able to survive the onslaught was a small victory in itself, not that it will mean much at this point. It's helpful to have individuals like Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Penaud. There are others in the pack like Pete Samu and Ben Tameifuna. The Bordeaux back line is star-studded. Yet, they still did basic things unbelievably well to grind out a deserving win throughout the second half of a tight contest. It would be thoughtless not to mention the two Irish contributors to the Champions Cup winners. Noel McNamara has done an excellent job since moving to Bordeaux. He must really be enjoying his time at the club with the talent at his disposal. There can be no excuse for not implementing your ideas when you've a team of highly skilled operators. There's no doubt that gelling and controlling a team with that level of individual flair must be difficult. McNamara (above) has contributed massively to their victory and his stock continues to rise. You'd have to wonder when the next Irish opportunity will open up for him. Joey Carbery didn't make it on the match-day squad for the final, which must be disappointing, no matter the result. However, he has made many positive contributions to this star-studded Bordeaux side across the season. Considering how his career stalled at the back end of his time with Munster, through injury and competition, it's great to see his resurgence. A fit and confident Carbery is a seriously attractive proposition to all the Irish provinces. It's back to domestic rugby from here, as Bordeaux continue to battle in the ultra-competitive Top 14. BKT URC action returns this weekend with more play-off excitement on the cards.
The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Bordeaux prop cited for allegedly grasping Pollock's throat
BORDEAUX PROP JEFFERSON Poirot has been cited for allegedly grasping Northampton back row Henry Pollock's throat in the immediate aftermath of the Champions Cup final last weekend. Poirot and other Bordeaux players were involved in an exchange with Pollock after the final whistle of their 28-20 victory in Cardiff last weekend. 20-year-old Pollock and Northampton were aggrieved following the incident, which has now led to a citing against Poirot. Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said there had been 'foul play' involved and that the match officials had assured Saints the incident would be dealt with. Bordeaux out-half Matthieu Jalibert revealed that he and his team-mates had felt Pollock and Northampton had disrespected them in the build-up to the final. Advertisement 'I told him that he didn't know our club,' Jalibert told the BBC. 'They said some things in the press that we didn't really appreciate. 'They said that we were a club of mercenaries who are here for the money. I just told him that he doesn't know our history, where we came from and that he must respect all clubs. I know it is their way of preparing for matches, but they must have respect too.' Poirot will face an independent disciplinary hearing on Thursday for allegedly contravening Law 9.27: A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. 'EPCR has received a citing complaint against the Union Bordeaux-Bègles prop, Jefferson Poirot (No 1), following the Investec Champions Cup final match between Northampton Saints and Union Bordeaux-Bègles at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 24 May,' reads a statement from EPCR. 'Poirot is alleged to have committed an act contrary to good sportsmanship towards the Northampton Saints Number 8, Henry Pollock, shortly after the final whistle in contravention of Law 9.27; in that he is alleged to have grasped the throat of Henry Pollock in a way that was dangerous and had the potential to cause serious harm. 'The complaint was made by the match Citing Commissioner, Tim Lowry (Ireland). 'Law 9.27 A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. 'Under World Rugby's Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.27 carries the following sanction entry points for offending of this nature: Low-end – 4 week/matches; Mid-range – 8 weeks/matches; Top-end 12-52 weeks/matches. 'Simon Thomas (Wales, Chair), Marcello D'Orey (Portugal) and Val Toma (Romania) have been appointed as the independent Disciplinary Committee for the hearing, which will take place by video conference on Thursday 29 May.' Meanwhile, Bath flanker Sam Underhill has been cited for a high tackle in his side's Challenge Cup final victory against Lyon on Friday. Underhill was only yellow carded by referee Hollie Davidson for the tackle but the citing commissioner, Philippe Lenne, believes it met the red card threshold. Underhill will face a disciplinary hearing tomorrow.
