Every year, the Girondins de Bordeaux collect their presence in the FFL d’Or every year. However, they are not the only ones to represent their city in the national defeat. Indeed, another historic club left its mark on the year 2024: Union Bordeaux Bègles. Or the UBB for short.
2ᵉ – Union Bordeaux Bègles
If all the eyes of connoisseurs are glued to the Top 14 final, the centuries-old UBB season actually begins on April 13. That day, Bordeaux hosted Harlequins in the Champions Cup quarter-final. A crazy match, where each team scored six tries, and where UBB made up a 16-point deficit. Then in the 77th minute, while the Bordelais were trailing 42-41, Maxime Lucu converted the winner with his foot. Six months after the illustrious Thomas Ramos, Lucu once again traumatized the French with a transformation. This passes 3 centimeters from the post, synonymous with elimination from the Champions Cup by 1 point in front of their home crowd. The foundations are laid for a dream season.
With the European Cup adventure over, there is only one objective left for UBB; the Top 14. Triple reigning semi-finalist of the competition (2021, 2022, 2023), the Bordelais are a serious candidate for the title. And against all odds, Maxime Lucu’s teammates break the glass ceiling in the semi-finals, and qualify for the grand final. They don’t know it yet, but they would have been better off falling for a fourth time in a row in the semi-finals.
Organized exceptionally at the Stade Vélodrome due to the Olympic Games, the Top 14 final takes a turn in the 11th minute. Indeed, after the penalty (this time successful) from Maxime Lucu, the UBB will no longer score a single point throughout the final. The Toulouse flood can then begin, and who other than Antoine Dupont to start it? A shot from the sombrero later on the same Lucu, the score is 22-3 at the break. And given the difference in level, the people of Bordeaux are delighted that it is not worse. But it’s only a matter of time.
From the hour mark, the tries will start to rain like a September day in Paris. Nine in total, compared to zero opposite. Competition is not part of the Toulouse vocabulary. And how can you end a final in a better way than with a 100-meter counter-attack from the opponent’s goal? The UBB, ladies and gentlemen. The road to the FFL d’Or is a long, quiet river now.
It was 11:09 p.m. when the referee decided to put an end to this Bordeaux mess, and the UBB players thanked him warmly. 59-3 defeat: Union Bordeaux Bègles has just signed the biggest tidal wave in the history of the French championship finals. And since the story is meant to be a tease, guess who owned the previous record? At the Stade Bordelais, and a 37-3 loss against the Racing Club de France in… 1900. Hi-sto-ri-que.
