Union Bordeaux Begles: A Remarkable Rise from Financial Ruin to Rugby Favorites

Saturday, 21 May 2011: Leinster produce the greatest comeback in European Cup final history to defeat Northampton Saints in Cardiff.

Sunday, 22 May 2011: Bordeaux Begles defeat Albi 21-14 to win promotion to France's Top 14.

Less than 24 hours separated history-defining games for Saturday's Investec Champions Cup finalists.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen captained his home province to back-to-back Heineken Cups - now known as the Champions Cup - in 2011 and 2012, while Bordeaux won promotion and then finished eighth in France's top flight.

Roll on 14 years and Bordeaux are favourites for the final, looking to emulate the Irish province by retaining the Champions Cup.

It has been a remarkable rise for the French club that formed only in 2006 after the merger of Pro D2 side Stade Bordelais and Club Athletique Bordeaux Begles Gironde who, because of a pool-stage draw with Cardiff, agonisingly missed out on a semi-final place in the inaugural Heineken Cup in 1995-96.

After 90 years in France's top flight, financial struggles meant CA Bordeaux Begles Gironde were relegated to the third tier in 2003, before the club declared bankruptcy a year later.

Two years on, Union Stade Bordelais-Club Athletique Bordeaux-Begles Gironde was formed after the two Bordeaux-based clubs joined forces.

That mouthful was shortened to Union Bordeaux Begles (UBB) in 2008 - and their side now contains France stars Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud and Matthieu Jalibert.

Australian back Blair Connor, aged 21 at the time, got in touch with his agent to look at clubs overseas after struggling to break through as a regular at Queensland Reds.

When second division Bordeaux Begles came up as an option for the 2010-11 campaign, a quick Google search of the coastline was enough to persuade the keen surfer.

"I knew nothing. I looked on the map and saw it was not far from the beach. I love surfing, so I thought, 'Sweet, I can surf once or twice a week.' That is about how much I knew," Connor told BBC Sport.

"The club was super small and had about four people in the office. You had to rely on the other players to help you out. It was a real family vibe."

UBB president Laurent Marti, who is still in charge of recruitment, devised a three-year plan ending in Top 14 promotion.

A team full of "misfits" who were "a bit underdeveloped but had potential" started the season playing in front of around 1,000 supporters, but ended it by packing out their 10,000-capacity Stade Andre Moga stadium for the final home league game.

A surprise semi-final away win over second-placed Grenoble in the promotion play-offs of that season meant Bordeaux, who had finished fifth in the second tier, reached an unexpected final.

Connor started on the wing and Bordeaux won the final to earn a Top 14 spot, getting the better of Albi.

Connor recalled elderly supporters crying. What is now a juggernaut of European rugby had begun to roll.

"Part of the reward for promotion was to play a couple of games at [the 34,462-capacity] Stade Chaban-Delmas, which was owned by the council and shared with the football team. We shared that for the first three games and the expectation was we would get a good crowd, but not a full crowd," Connor recalled.

"First game, we packed it out. Second game, we packed it out. We just kept doing that. The more games we played and won in the Top 14, people started to recognise the players.

"In that first year, we became the people's team because we were a bunch of underdogs. We just kept winning and every game was like a final. I think our budget was the lowest in the league."

The financial demise of the city's football team, who were relegated to the fourth tier in 2024, has helped rugby become the city's main sporting attraction.

Stade Chaban-Delmas became UBB's permanent home in 2011 and the club regularly play in front of near-capacity crowds - making them the best-supported club in Europe.

Consolidation in the top flight was followed by a first Champions Cup appearance in 2015-16, thanks to Pierre Bernard's late drop-goal against Gloucester in a qualification play-off - a game Connor started.

Back-to-back Champions Cup appearances began to take a toll on Bordeaux's league form as they struggled to compete on two fronts, finishing 11th, 10th and 10th.

"During that period [2016-2019], we started taking steps backwards. The budget was getting bigger and we were signing bigger names, the culture was not gelling," added Connor, who played regularly.

"We were going backwards and it was frustrating because I felt like I was in my prime and we were missing opportunities we could have taken.

"Near the end of my career [2020], I felt a bit outdated - like a dinosaur from that crossover Pro D2 team.

"Guys like Cameron Woki and Matthieu Jalibert were starting to come through, and while we used to drink in the dressing room after every game, they were like, 'No, we need to recover and get ready for the week.'

"Mentally, I knew I was done and it was time to hand over the baton to the new generation of Jalibert and those sort of guys. They took the club where it needed to go."

Covid-19 caused the cancellation of the league in 2019-20, with Bordeaux top of the table when the competition was halted, after Connor started what proved to be the final game of both that curtailed campaign and his career.

Soon to take over from Connor would be Bielle-Biarrey, who made his debut for Bordeaux in 2021.

Now a France star wing, Bielle-Biarrey has scored tries in a record 10 straight Six Nations games.

A picture of the now 22-year-old Bielle-Biarrey pointing at the Australian in Connor's Australian Sports Bar - situated in Bordeaux - was captioned: "Successor.", external

Despite missing out on a first top-flight title in back-to-back finals against Toulouse in 2024 and 2025 under head coach Yannick Bru, who was appointed in 2023, UBB defeated Northampton Saints in last year's Champions Cup final.

Connor's former side have again been the standout team in this year's competition, beating Toulouse in the quarter-finals and Bath in the semi-finals through their fast-paced attacking style.

"We were not a blip on Leinster's radar [in 2011]," Connor said.

"Bordeaux may be favourites, but Leinster's culture of winning means you cannot write them off.

"If everyone turns up and plays to their level, Bordeaux are unstoppable.

"If they then went on to win the Top 14, the town would party for a week. That has been the objective from day one. The European Cup was meant to come second."