LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'The manner of UBB’s victory should provide an inspiration to others.'

Six. And counting. It’s a fair bet that we might run out of fingers by the time a non-French side wins the Champions Cup again. Such was the majesty and savagery on show in Bordeaux’s demolition-job on Leinster that UBB might use up all those digits on their own. How can anyone compete you might reasonably ask? How can the English clubs ever go mano-a-mano with them given the disparity in budgets and resources and backing from the terraces to the boardroom?

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Well, they can. Of course they can. The key ingredient is one of attitude not just money, important as that is. We’ve been here before, feeling that the odds are stacked and that competing on a level playing field will forever be beyond the scope of all-comers be they Irish or English or Scottish or, we can but twiddle those rosary beads and pray, Welsh or Italian. So comprehensive was Brive’s shredding of Leicester all those years ago in the 90s that we all gasped in worship of the self-same type of rugby that UBB put out on the field on Saturday at the San Mames. That dynasty lasted the best part of two years until Bath, via a vaudeville finish in Bordeaux itself, managed to topple the seemingly all-conquering Brive. Stade Toulousain, Toulon, La Rochelle – the Gallic warriors do present a formidable sight as they crest the hill and come down towards you. That was certainly the case during a breath-inducing first 40 minutes in Bilbao when Maxine Lucu and his confreres confounded the notion that finals are cagey, risk-averse affairs. Their five try first-half extravaganza was as complete a performance as the competition has ever seen.

But Northampton Saints have delivered such performances in their time. Bath, too. Saracens of old – a contrast of style at times but productive nonetheless.

Of course there is a sense of a gap opening between the French leaders of the pack and the rest. If we were simply dealing with a differential of cash then there would be graver concerns. The French do have more money at their disposal but to suggest that they have somehow bought their way to successive European titles is poppycock as well as delusional. Leinster have been cossetted by the Irish system for years with a built-in schools pathway to die for and the commercial clout that being the focal point of Dublin life affords. They have such a size of squad that they can rest and rotate as they see fit. Bordeaux have no such welfare benefits to help keep their players in tip-top shape. Despite the joyous nature of their post-match celebrations, invading the press conference in the sort of boisterous mood that suggested they might give Alex Goode or Alfie Barbeary a run for their length of their respective trophy-winning knees-up, the reality is that UBB face a crunch game at Toulon on Saturday if they are boost their chances of getting into the Top 14 play-offs.

Let’s point out that Bordeaux were up against what is essentially a national team – caps galore, Lions credentials plus a former All Black with 88 test notches on his belt.

Let’s nail another myth that floats like an aura around UBB, that they are some sort of pampered elite, adored by their fans who have helped transform Bordeaux from a football to a rugby city. The stands are packed for every home match at the Chaban Delmas and to judge by the colour and cacophony at the San Mames, the entire Bordeaux populace had decamped four hours south to the Basque country. It’s the sort of fervent connection usually associated with football. UBB is a club of the same sort of earthy origins, albeit they only formally came into existence as UBB twenty years ago. But their roots are in the Bordeaux soil.

Let’s point out that this was a club side up against what is essentially a national team – caps galore, Lions credentials plus a former All Black with 88 test notches on his belt. ‘Club?’ scoffed some on Twitter when the comparison was pointed out. Yes, a club, one founded on strong local-identity principles. UBB are not a team of galacticos, as Toulon once were. They play as if a star-studded side, like a Real Madrid in their pomp. But just like the current wondrous PSG football side, they realise that teamwork and togetherness and self-belief count for far more than reputations or a test-laden CV.

So, it can be done if the right people are there to realise what is needed to be put in place. You can’t tell me that Noel McNamara was some sort of attacking gun for hire that would go to the highest bidder on the global market. Yet it is the Irishman that has imbued this UBB team with the sort of mindset that was once the preserve of the likes of Brian Ashton. UBB are not drilled to within an inch of their lives. Instead they have been nurtured to believe in space and a sense of opportunity. Ashton used to tee up one of his coaching sessions by putting three tackle bags a metre apart in front of players and ask them what they saw. Most replied: ‘Three tackle bags.’ The wise ones pointed to the gap between the tackle bags and said:’ Space.’

UBB have a team of space cadets.

If only UBB could now inspire the rest of the rugby world to follow suit. Some already are, notably Northampton Saints in this country.

If only UBB could now inspire the rest of the rugby world to follow suit. Some already are, notably Northampton Saints in this country. Would that the whole of Twickenham would fall to its knees and genuflect before Steve Borthwick were the England head coach say that UBB have shown the way and that he was a convert. If only.

If nothing else let us hope that the manner of UBB’s victory should provide an inspiration to others. It is not about playing airy-fairy rugby for there was nothing frilly and frivolous in the way they tackled as Robbie Henshaw might testify after being cut in half by a Yoram Moefana tackle. It all helps, of course, if you have a One Man lineout in the shape of Cameron Woki. What a specimen.

Leinster are not the only ones with much to reflect on. The game is moving on apace and Leinster’s one-dimensional reliance on defence and structure looks out-dated. UBB are out in front. But there is no reason for others to give up the chase. UBB are not super-human or beyond reach. The pursuit will be invigorating for us all.