Carbery and McNamara play their part in Bordeaux's rise
The out-half had upped sticks from Munster to enjoy a fresh start in France. After years of his body breaking down at the worst times and the struggles for selection and form that resulted, things were surely going to be different with Union Bordeaux Bègles [UBB].
So it must have been deeply frustrating to suffer an injury he's had to deal with before.
And yet, Carbery already sensed at that stage that the move to Bordeaux had been a great decision.
It's a beautiful city. Carbery's wife and son, who soon turns one, moved over with him and the memories they're making will undoubtedly last a lifetime. Carbery probably also appreciated from early on that he had joined a special rugby club on the rise.
Bordeaux sell out the Stade Chaban Delmas for every home game, welcoming in a vocal crowd of more than 32,000 people. UBB have cleverly assembled an excellent squad in recent years, with long-serving president Laurent Marti continuing to ensure the necessary resources are in place.
It must be a thrill to be part of a squad including players like Damian Penaud, Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Yoram Moefana, Pete Samu, Guido Petti, Ben Tameifuna, and rising stars such as Nicolas Depoortère.
Carbery was another piece of the jigsaw because Bordeaux were looking for another strong out-half to complement France international Jalibert. Carbery's versatility was another attractive factor, as was his international experience. Only Petti, Jonny Gray, and Penaud in the UBB squad have more Test caps than Carbery's 37.
Former France hooker Yannick Bru joined as head coach in the summer of 2023, bringing Irish attack specialist Noel McNamara with him. It was nice for Carbery to have a familiar face to welcome him to Bordeaux at the start of the season.
Noel McNamara has made a big impression in Bordeaux. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Also on the UBB coaching staff are former Toulouse back row Shaun Sowerby [forwards], ex-France prop Jean-Baptiste Poux [scrum], former France scrum-half Christophe Laussucq [defence], ex-Springbok Heini Adams [skills], and former France S&C specialist Thibault Giroud. It's a highly-regarded coaching set-up.
Carbery knew all of this when he agreed to join Bordeaux, of course, but seeing the quality on a day-to-day basis is undoubtedly exciting.
Advertisement
He finally got his second appearance for the club in early November when he returned from injury at out-half and it has been a happy run for Carbery ever since, leading to his cameo off the bench for the closing 11 minutes of last weekend's Champions Cup semi-final win over Toulouse.
29-year-old Carbery has played his part in this run to the final, starting the pool win away to Ulster at out-half, then starting at fullback in the pool victory over the Sharks, as well as coming off the bench in a win against Leicester.
He impressed at number 10 against Ulster in the Round of 16 before missing out on involvement in the quarter-final against his former club, Munster, as Bordeaux opted for a 6/2 bench split in the quarter-final. Carbery will be hoping there are no thoughts of that for the final against Northampton.
Carbery has had nine Top 14 starts this season, with eight at out-half and one at number 15, as well as coming off the bench five times. All in all, it has been a busy and happy opening campaign, with the best possibly ahead.
As well as reaching the Champions Cup final, UBB sit second in the Top 14 with four regular-season games remaining. Toulon are only two match points behind, so Bru's men have to get their foot back on the accelerator after back-to-back domestic defeats to Pau and La Rochelle.
A top-two finish would mean avoiding the barrages phase of the knock-outs and going straight into the semi-finals. It's a huge focus for Bordeaux.
Their scintillating attack means they can be confident of doing damage against any team, while last weekend's win over an admittedly depleted Toulouse shows that Bordeaux also have the forward might to out-muscle teams in high-stakes knock-out rugby.
Bordeaux have a highly talented squad. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The characteristic, stunning transition tries by Samu and Bielle-Biarrey were highlights, but Bordeaux must have taken immense satisfaction from overpowering Toulouse for their last two tries through Pierre Bochaton and Tameifuna. Last year's Top 14 final defeat to les Toulousains, a 59-3 hammering, is increasingly in the rearview mirror.
Attack coach McNamara obviously has serious weapons to work with, yet he has done an excellent job of providing some clever plans without getting in the way of or inhibiting that talent.
His starter players from set-piece have always been inventive and we've seen more examples of that with Bordeaux. Meanwhile, their phase-play attack has shape without being robotic. McNamara's system gets the best out of one thing that Bordeaux have in abundance – sheer speed.
Bielle-Biarrey, Jalibert, Penaud, Romain Buros and co. are lightning quick in the backs, and forwards like Samu, Marko Gazzotti, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea are mobile and explosive. UBB can go from standing still to top gear in the blink of an eye. McNamara has harnessed that quality well.
His coaching journey has been an intriguing one, all the more given his lack of a playing background. Glenstal, Clongowes, UCD, Ireland U20s, North Harbour in New Zealand, the Leinster academy, the Sharks of South Africa, and now Bordeaux. It's a rich, varied CV.
A former teacher, McNamara worked hard on his French from day one and speaks it well enough to appear on French TV. That effort to integrate never goes unappreciated in France, particularly given that some foreign coaches don't push themselves to learn.
But it is McNamara's coaching quality that has made the biggest impression and while many would like to see him back in Irish rugby, the Clare man has signed on with UBB until the summer of 2027.
He and Carbery will now hope to claim Champions Cup winners' medals in Cardiff in three weekends. It would be a second such medal for Carbery, who was on the bench for Leinster in the 2018 final against Racing 92.
The Bordeaux duo will wish a few of their compatriots well the night before in Cardiff.
Bath will take on Lyon in the Challenge Cup final, with former Leinster lock Ross Molony, ex-Ireland second row Quinn Roux, and former Ulster hooker Niall Annett part of former Munster boss Johann van Graan's squad.
Ross Molony has settled in well with Bath. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Roux started in the second row in last weekend's semi-final win over Edinburgh, while Molony and Annett both came off the bench, the hooker scoring a try.
31-year-old second row Molony has played 20 games so far in his first season with Bath, 11 of them in the starting team, and team-mates like Finn Russell have spoken positively about his knowledge and the standards he sets among the squad.
Annett, a former Ireland U20 captain, has forged an excellent career in England, firstly by becoming a much-loved figure at Worcester before joining Bath in 2022. The 34-year-old has played 21 times this season, with six starts in the number two shirt.
The last of Roux's 16 Ireland caps came in 2020. The former Leinster and Connacht man moved to Bath the same summer as Annett. The 34-year-old remains a powerful presence and has racked up 18 starts in the second row for van Graan's side this season.
Bath are favourites to win the Premiership. They have a 15-point lead with three regular-season games left. They will have to negotiate a semi-final and final, of course, but after last year's defeat to Northampton in the decider, many expect them to get over the line this time.
Before that, van Graan, whose staff includes former Munster defence coach JP Ferreira, will plan to lead Bath to Challenge Cup glory. They won the Premiership Rugby Cup in March, ending a 17-year trophy drought.
Molony, Roux, and Annett hope to help them to bigger and better achievements in the near future.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Colm Cooper hails David Clifford for ‘living up to hype' but issues ominous warning to Kerry GAA's All-Ireland rivals
COLM COOPER has sent an ominous warning to Kerry's rivals by claiming that David Clifford could still get better. Having been named Footballer of the Year in 2022 and 2023, 2 David Clifford has been rampant in Kerry's journey to the All-Ireland semi-finals Credit: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile 2 Colm Cooper believes there is more to come from the 26-year-old Credit: INPHO/Ryan Byrne But the fantastic form of the 26-year-old forward has been crucial to the Kingdom's run to this weekend's last-four showdown with Cooper said: 'To me, he seems revitalised this year. He seems hungry. Mentally he's probably in a stronger place. He's living up to the hype and he's living up to the expectations. 'And I think there's more under the bonnet. I think there's more to come.' Clifford, who led Fossa to All-Ireland junior success in January 2023, Read More on GAA And 'It was a difficult time for him but he looks to be really enjoying his football again. He's hungry and he seems to be in excellent shape as well. 'I'm not surprised that he's at that level. 'Look, there's the odd bad day thrown in as well, which shows that he's human and which is the same as every other player in the country. Most read in GAA Football 'We're just lucky that he's in Kerry and he's performing at such a high level. I think he's beginning to mature as well as a footballer. 'He's making other players better around him. Watch RTE pundits' contrasting reaction to full-time whistle of Tipperary's epic win over Kilkenny 'His ability has never been in question — he can do anything — but I think he's making the team a better team now as well.' Clifford bagged a hat-trick against Cavan as Kerry set up a quarter-final clash with Armagh. The Championship's top scorer then racked up 0-7 from play as the All-Ireland champions were dethroned. Asked if he thinks Clifford will get better, 2004 Footballer of the Year Cooper said: 'Potentially, yes. I think you get better with maturity and experience. 'You just learn more about yourself and your game and your team-mates. 'Is he midway through his career at the moment, if he stays healthy? Probably staying healthy is the most important thing. 'I think there's potentially more there.' Clifford was widely seen as Cooper's heir when he made his Kerry senior debut less than a week removed from his 19th birthday. But fellow Killarney resident Cooper said: 'I have casual chats with him but he's a very level, grounded fella anyway. I don't think there's too much he needs from me in terms of advice. 'I'm like everyone else. I sit back in the stand and admire and gasp at some of the stuff he does. 'As long as he keeps doing it, we'll all stay happy.'
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Serial winner Gus McCarthy planning to carry his happy habit into the Ireland fold
Gus McCarthy has never been on the losing side in a Test match or a Champions Cup game. It is a striking statistic for the 21-year-old Leinster and Ireland hooker. On Saturday he will look to maintain that record when Ireland take on Portugal in Lisbon (7pm Irish time). He has played 20 matches in senior professional rugby and suffered defeat just twice, both in United Rugby Championship (URC) games. McCarthy is a serial winner. He led his school, Blackrock College, to a Leinster Schools Senior Cup crown. He captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations grand slam and a place in the World Junior Championship final, where they lost to a brilliant French team. McCarthy's progression from Leinster to Ireland debuts came in just under six months, via an Emerging Ireland tour. The ACL injury suffered by Dan Sheehan in July 2024 provided an opening, which the young hooker followed up on. READ MORE He scored a try in his first cap against Fiji last November, provided an assist for three others and finished the match in the backrow because of injuries. The Leinster man then followed up with another try-scoring cameo in the 22-19 victory over Australia. McCarthy won two further caps off the bench in the Six Nations. That was a major achievement in itself as the two players ahead of him at Leinster and Ireland are currently away with the Lions − Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher. Gus McCarthy during squad training ahead of Ireland's match against Portugal in Lisbon on Saturday evening. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho McCarthy said of his rapid rise from rookie to the Test environment: 'I've been delighted with the opportunities I've got, but obviously I'm in Leinster and it's a very, very tough challenge. I've got two probable Lions Test players in the same position as me. 'I haven't played a whole amount. I didn't really get involved in any of the URC knockout stages and the latter end of the Champions Cup, but I did get quite a bit of game time in the middle of the season. It's good to learn from the best, some seriously good talent. The competition is endless; it keeps you on your toes. Ireland impress as the Lions struggle Listen | 26:21 'I wouldn't say it's frustrating. Obviously, I would like to play but I'm still very inexperienced. I try to take every opportunity I get and just bide my time.' He smiles when the word 'meteoric' is mentioned. 'It did happen sooner than I would have thought. I thought I was just going to be training for the first week of Portugal (in November) but then I got held on. 'For the week of the Argentina game, I was back with Leinster and then I thought I was done, but I got the call on the Sunday night asking me to come into camp again and then I got named to start in that Fiji match. I wasn't expecting it, but I was delighted to get a shot.' Gus McCarthy's rugby career to date has been a story of success after success. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho He was part of an Irish front-row alongside Jack Boyle (2) and Thomas Clarkson (6) that had a combined 12 caps when Ireland faced into last week's Test in Tbilisi . Whatever about the callow nature of the team, squaring up against Georgia in a scrum is not for the fainthearted. It is a rigorous technical examination. While Ireland did experience issues initially in that facet of the game, they successfully worked their way through them and won the game 34-5. So, what was the scrum Test like? 'I really enjoyed the experience of playing against that Georgian pack,' he said. 'The Georgians are known for being a seriously strong scrum, big front-row, abrasive players. It was a great test for us as a young and relatively inexperienced pack. Everything wasn't perfect but I think we did a good job and got stuck into them physically.' Saturday will provide a contrasting test, fast and loose in the sweltering temperatures of Lisbon and a Portugal side that will engage Ireland in a different way to Georgia. McCarthy can't wait. He's where he loves to be, in the match environment.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Ugandan GAA team line out in Clare jerseys for match against local rivals
A Ugandan GAA team has lined out in Clare's famous yellow and blue jersey for their first match after receiving a donation from Irish volunteers. Nile Óg Cusacks GAA, based in Jjinja, Uganda, was founded in July 2024 by New Quay man man John Conroy and teaches Gaelic football and Irish dancing to children in the village. Related topics Joseph Murray
