EPCR WRAP: Leinster offered SA URC hope but Stormers should kick themselves

The way Leinster were physically suffocated by Bordeaux-Begles in the Investec Champions Cup final should offer a window of hope to the South African challenge in the Vodacom URC, but if they were watching the game the DHL Stormers should also have been kicking themselves.

As it turned out, the neutral venue in Bilbao, Spain for the destination final to the elite EPCR competition turned out to be not quite as neutral as it was expected to be. What was perhaps forgotten in the buildup to the European decider was the proximity of Bilbao to the Bordeaux home base. It is a three-hour and 45-minute drive between the two cities. Dublin is so much further away.

Make no mistake, there were many Leinster supporters who made the journey, and the defeated Leinster coach Leo Cullen thanked them afterwards. But on the television evidence it was the colours of Bordeaux that dominated in the stands and the voluble support the French team enjoyed would have made it feel like a home game for them.

Which cues why the Stormers should be kicking themselves, and why their fellow SA sides still alive as the URC heads into the Finals Series won’t be thanking them either. The Cape team had a gilt-edged opportunity to finish at least second, which would have condemned Leinster to travelling for their URC semifinal should they get there.

BOTH IRISH TEAMS STRUGGLED WITH FRENCH PHYSICALITY

On the evidence of Bilbao, the URC champions would have been vulnerable had they been visiting Cape Town for a semifinal. But at home, and assuming they get past the Lions this week, for there is always the danger of a post-finals-blues-type hangover and it will be hard for Leinster to put a fourth defeat in a Champions Cup final in five seasons out of their minds, Leinster may just be a different animal.

As it was, both the Lions and the Stormers would have noted that although well beaten on the day, Leinster did get a lot of entries into the Bordeaux 22. They weren’t capitalised on, but setting up on attack like that so often was a positive for Leinster, who enjoyed the lion's share of possession and were forced to make significantly fewer tackles than Bordeaux were.

Where Bordeaux won the game was the physicality of their defence in particular, but also their forwards, and given that was also where Ulster were beaten by another French team, Montpellier, in the EPCR Challenge Cup final the night before, maybe the finals weekend in Spain offered a reminder, if it was needed, on how the SA sides can make it harder for Irish teams.

⭐️ BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS! ⭐️

Union Bordeaux Bègles take the #InvestecChampionsCup title in Bilbao, beating Leinster Rugby 41-19 🏆🍇 pic.twitter.com/TrKLOrUOkT
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) May 23, 2026

When Ireland beat the Springboks in Durban in July 2024 it was because they surprised the Boks by almost overdoing the physicality, something that might have set in motion the response in Dublin 16 months later - sometimes it does look as though Irish rugby is taking a while to shrug off the spectre of the physical mauling dished out at AVIVA Stadium last November.

The Stormers, who do still have to get past Cardiff in their home quarterfinal on Saturday, are probably better equipped to replicate that than the Lions, who will miss the injured Ruan Venter in the physical exchanges at AVIVA Stadium on Saturday night. But if Leinster were coming to Cape Town for their semifinal, there’d be a whole different narrative around the SA chances.

BULLS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DRAW

Instead it looks as if the Vodacom Bulls, by finishing fourth, managed to secure the potentially easier path to what would be their first title, for they are on the same side of the draw as Glasgow, who they came close to beating in the Champions Cup round of 16 match last month and were well beaten by two SA teams, the Lions and Stormers, last month. Glasgow also have to host Connacht in their quarterfinal on Friday, and that is by no means a gimme.

Should Connacht continue their recent momentum by winning at The Scotstoun, they will come to Pretoria for their semifinal. But the Bulls will need to tighten up some aspects of their game against Munster in their first playoff game and focus on the physical areas where the visitors might be vulnerable.

LUCU’S PERFORMANCE JUXTAPOSED SA’S SCRUMHALF MINI-CRISIS

The Bilbao weekend was a sobering one when it came to underlining the chasm that appears to be developing between the French teams and their high-quality Top 14 competition and the rest, and there’s one thing the French sides have in abundance right now, which is fit experienced quality scrumhalves.

Bordeaux laid the platform for their victory by limiting the opportunities of the Leinster kingpin No 9 Jamison Gibson-Park while maximising what the excellent Maxime Lucu offered them. The Stormers and Lions have both lost Bok scrumhalves who are a bit part of their respective games for the Finals Series, Cobus Reinach and Morne van den Bergh respectively, something that should have been of concern to Bok coach Rassie Erasmus.

Lucu’s performance in the final writ large the impact that an authoritative, game-driving scrumhalf can have on a game, but right now Erasmus has plenty of young, talented halfbacks coming through but only Faf de Klerk of his more experienced international players fit. And the first international game of the year against the Barbarians in Gqeberha is now less than four weeks away.

Not the way we wanted our season to finish, but we gave it everything.

Thank you for your unrelenting support 🤍 pic.twitter.com/9aBGFRbv88
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) May 22, 2026