If you are ever fortunate enough to visit the city of Seville, make sure you go to the old bullring. The Real Maestranza is known as ‘the cathedral of bullfighting’ and outside the arena stands the bronze statue of one of the greatest of all toreros, Curro Romero. He stands proudly, with cape in hand to welcome you to a slice of history.
The favourite son of Andalusia was borne out of the Prince’s Gate shoulder-high on no fewer than five occasions by the notoriously fickle fans. The local magistrate in a labour dispute was once moved to describe the feeling he evoked, the sensation of Currismo as ‘notoriously altruistic in favour of the bullfighter; deep and rooted like no other; the creator of a permanent illusion, of unconditional hope and of a way of understanding life’.
Substitute ‘rugby’ for ‘life’ in that last sentence and you will discover much the same strain of emotion arising whenever Union Bordeaux-Begles play in their home stadium of Stade Chaban-Delmas. UBB can justifiably lay claim to be the best-supported club team anywhere on planet rugby. Their home games are invariably sold out, and those baying, singing, stamping 32,000 partisans in claret and white want to create ‘a permanent illusion, an unconditional hope’ of how the game of rugby can be played. A kind of rugby delirium.
On Saturday afternoon at another cathedral of rugby, Loftus Versveld in Pretoria, UBB brought their form of oval-ball intoxication to the highveld. They performed rugby’s version of the Paso Doble with their very own Bulls. Rugby idealism is what sets Bordeaux apart, and it is what persuaded their outside-half Matthieu Jalibert to announce his contract extension until 2028 in front of an adoring full house of Bordelais on the sodden, fog-filled evening of 30th November, 2024.
“The match [against Montpellier] will not go down in history. [The new contract] was signed a few weeks ago, but I was waiting for the right moment because I wanted to share it with you first. Here it is, an exclusive in the name of all the love you give us, in the name of the whole team.”
View this post on Instagram
The chant Jalibert! Jalibert! rang all around Stade Chaban-Delmas in response. Club happiness stood out in sharp contrast to international despair for the diminutive playmaker at the time. Only a few weeks before, he had walked out of Fabien Galthie’s training camp on the eve of France’s pinnacle Test against New Zealand. After Toulousain full-back Thomas Ramos was preferred at number 10, Jalibert asked the coaching staff not to name him on the bench. Then he packed his bags and left for home.
The UBB orchestrator was in fine fettle on the field but he was suffering off it. As he told Sud-Ouest: “It was a complicated period, not easy to manage, but that’s part of high-level sport. Everything can’t always go in the right direction. That’s how it is. I expressed things to Fabien about a certain malaise that I had, and I was offered to take a break and return to Bordeaux, which I accepted.
“We have a unit to talk about our frustrations, our disappointments, our discomfort… it’s made for that. What I regret is that it got back to Fabien because I wanted to wait until the end of [November] to talk to him about it.
“We talk a lot about wellbeing and mental health, and sometimes you have to know when to say stop when there is too much. For me, I think, it was the best option and it did me good.
“Since the World Cup, I felt like I didn’t have his [Galthie’s] trust. At the start of the season, I felt capable of taking on the role, but that wasn’t the case. There were also some external problems, but they aren’t part of the French team. I needed to tell him all that, I think he understood, he saw that I was exhausted.
“Since he wasn’t counting on me against the All Blacks and Argentina, he suggested I return to Bordeaux to recover.
“I have not distanced myself from the French team, I am still a player of the French team and if I am called upon, I would join up with the team with the greatest pleasure.”
With the Six Nations rolling around the corner in only two months, Jalibert is returning to the very best version of himself, and that raises an interesting question for Galthie. Should France continue to build from a pragmatic Toulousain base, or should they pivot towards a more idealistic UBB view of the game?
When France lost the centre-piece of their autumn series to a 14-man South Africa, Galthie’s selection was squarely based on the perennial Top 14 table-toppers and six-time European champions. There were seven starters from les rouges et noirs and only two from the claret and white. Moreover, there were six Toulousain forwards in the matchday 23 in a French pack systematically dismantled by the Springboks, five of them tight forwards. There were none from UBB.
The balance does not seem quite right when you consider that Bordeaux-Begles beat Toulouse handily en route to their Champions Cup triumph last season, while succumbing to the same opponents at the very last gasp, in the 100th minute of extra time in the final of the Top 14.
If the likes of Emmanuel Meafou, Thibault Flament, Dorian Aldegheri and Julian Marchand cannot stand toe-to-toe with Bokke physicality, should Galthie look to move the French game towards a more mobile, fluid style and the unconditional attacking hope epitomised by life at Stade Chaban-Delmas? It is a great question.
The terrific opening round of Champions Cup matches gave the France supremo a sharp nudge in the ribs as UBB turned over the Bulls by 46-33 and seven tries to five in a scoring extravaganza.
The Bulls did their very best impersonation of the Boks, picking four of Rassie Erasmus’ serial ‘bomb squad’ forwards on the bench in a 6/2 split [front rowers Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw and Ruan Nortje] but the heroes of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine won the final quarter going away, 19-0. It was a moment of pleasing symmetry which will have warmed French hearts, because that was exactly the margin in South Africa’s favour in the last 20 of the big game in November.
The outcome should elevate the Six Nations claims of several Bordelais. Maxime Lamothe and Cameron Woki will benefit up front, and six UBB backs may find themselves starting the first game of the tournament against Ireland. Jalibert and Nicolas Depoortere could link up with seasoned starters such as Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana and the terrible twins on the wing, Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, in the run-on side. Sprinkle on a little magic dust at full-back in Ramos and that is some set of speedsters.
The selection of Jalibert at 10, ahead of the red-and-black’s Romain Ntamack, would complete the circle of redemption for the UBB wizard. On Saturday afternoon in Pretoria, he was the key to unlocking the outrageous spread of speed and skills outside him. His raw stats were impressive enough in isolation.
The Bordelais pivot topped the charts in all of those categories, and started the game as he meant to go on.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 8, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 8, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 8, 2025
It is Jalibert’s threat on the carry which sets the UBB attack in motion, and there are not many first receivers in the game who can match his eye for the gap. As soon as he sees a hole he runs straight through it and he never dies with the ball, and all the claret-and-white forwards and backs take their cue from that. Jalibert plays the pipe and all the others march to his tune.
The balance in the UBB kicking game is excellent, with Lucu managing most of the longer kicks [seven to Jalibert’s one] while the outside-half takes more responsibility for the shorter contestables [seven to Lucu’s five]. Jalibert’s kick-offs were exceptional, allowing the UBB chasers time to compete for the ball well inside the Bulls 22.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 8, 2025
Over four-and-a-half seconds represents aerial hang-time of which any NFL punter would be justifiably proud. It is Jalibert’s skills on the run, with the boot and via the pass which encourages the speed in the outside backs to flourish.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 8, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 8, 2025
Another resurgent forward of national interest, Woki, makes the initial dent in the first clip, and even when the Bulls D smothers a straightforward connection between Jalibert and Bielle-Biarrey by filling the lane between them, the 10 finds a way to revive the lethal link with an overhead, basketball-type pass. In the second instance Depoortere and Penaud turn provider for the little magician, and all three should find themselves into the starting Bleus XV for the visit of Ireland on 5 February.
After a stunning defeat by the Springboks, French rugby needs to decide whether it wants to be more bull or matador at the Six Nations. The bull did not impress the seven-man South African pack one little bit on that fateful evening at the Stade de France. It was first tamed, then slain at the momento de la verdad in the last quarter. Maybe Les Bleus need a bit more idealism and a little less pragmatism, more UBB-inspired rugby delirium, more Matthieu Jalibert. A taste of currismo to touch the coeur of the red cockerel.
Great piece as always Nick. I took Hemingway’s Death in the afternoon with me on an U19 rugby tour long train trip, and his descriptions of Seville’s Maestranza, the architecture and beauty and emotions of the crowd are still with me today. I also found inspiration in his descriptions of bravery. Thanks for bringing back those memories and the counterpoint of the bull fight and the much vaunted Bull Ring is spot on.
Seville is a wonderful place GVF, just the architectural variery of all the embassies are worth a visit by themselves!
I would have to agree with that. Watching France serially dismantle Ireland in P de P in the 80s it wasn’t the bull driving fear into Irish fans, it was the matadors…although their bulls did spill blood…the blood dye-ing Jean Pierre Rives blond hair was usually not his.
Yes the other in that French pack of the late 1970s did all the bloodletting for JPR didn’t they, easy to be a 7 with the likes of Cholley and Palmie ahead of you…
Think the journalist should calm down the Springboks on the bench just came back from a long trip to Europe and the game against Wales. You could see there was some fatigue. Bulls probably should have rested Springboks like Stormers did.
The journalist is quite calm, but thanks for your concern😁
There were plenty of promising signs from a French point if view, not least the fact that UBB do not play altititude because they do not play not in the URC - but they were strong in the last half hour, when most teams wilt at Loftus.
The Bulls picked their strongest available team to win this game but UBB were just too good, and the game can be of value for France moving forward.
Thanks for that article.
One thing that has changed is that while Ntamack’s offensive game has regressed - cleaning up his knee this summer hasn’t changed much - Jalibert has improved his defense. His defensive save at the end of the game shows he’s working on it (he has training sessions with a XIII defensive specialist).
And that’s a sign Galthié should probably perceive as very positive.
And maybe like SA has a cold-ice Pollard and an unpredictable SFM or Libbok, France might need to reintroduce Jalibert into its 23 equation, at the very least.
I guess the only issue is how to play with two operators that can be defensive liabilities - Ramos and Jalibert. While Ramos isn’t an aerial expert, but probably the best kicker around.
And I guess there are other dilemmas Galthié has: leave Penaud or get an aerial winger like Dréan, Attissogbé or Grandidier ? Put Ramos at 10 and take a more aerial and/or dynamic 15 like Buros or Barré?
No easy answers for that!
Two questions Sol.
If most of the UBB outside backs play, is it worth including boith Lucu and Jalibert to service them? They can afford to reintroduce Dupont slowly off the bench in the 6N after all.
How long will Ramos last as full-back, now 30 years old? Attissogbe was outstanding in NZ and he is the obvious replacement…
You missed out the new spot!
Agreed with all of this. Plus the fact that Dupont and Jalibert are two creative players who like to lead the game. Not totally sure that Jalibert would be as impactful next to Dupont.