Bielle-Biarrey to start Top 14 final after concussion recovery
Bordeaux-Begles head coach Yannick Bru said on Friday winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey will start this weekend's French Top 14 final against Toulouse after a "spectacular change" in his concussion symptoms.
Frenchman Bielle-Biarrey has scored 33 tries this season for club and country, but has been sidelined since June 7.
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After last weekend's semi-final win over Toulon, Bru ruled the 22-year-old out of Saturday's decider in Paris, but Bielle-Biarrey has been named in the line-up for the game at the Stade de France.
"At the start of this week, he met a lot of specialists; he scored 10/10 in his neurological tests," Bru told reporters.
"The central question after that was 'Louis do you want to play?'
"He said 'It's out of the question that I don't play the final with my mates'.
"It's that journey that showed us quite quickly that Louis would be present. There was a spectacular change."
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Bielle-Biarrey crossed for the last of his 13 league tries earlier this month, making him the Top 14's leading scorer this season.
He starts outside another 22-year-old, centre Nicolas Depoortere.
"It's always tough to be out of the squad and miss games like that, a semi-final," Depoortere said.
"He comes back in time for the final. Having the top scorer in the Top 14 by our side tomorrow is a plus."
Bielle-Biarrey has failed to score in just two of his last 16 appearances and played a crucial part in France's Six Nations success earlier this year.
"He's a player that walks on water," Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola told reporters.
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"He's explosive, he is incredibly efficient. He's a player everyone would like to have in their team."
- 'No revenge' -
The final comes 12 months after Bordeaux-Begles suffered a record 59-3 hammering to Mola's Toulouse in the 2024 showpiece.
Since then, Bru's side have beaten the record 23-time French champions on three straight occasions.
"We understand fully that this match will be presented as a revenge, but we've never talked about revenge," Bru said.
"That means stiffness, anger, things that blind you a little bit.
"On the contrary, in a final what's crucial is to have your eyes wide open."
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One of those victories came in the Champions Cup semi-finals.
Three weeks later Bordeaux-Begles lifted the continental crown, beating English club Northampton in the final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
"It will stand for nothing," former Toulouse hooker Bru said.
"The Cardiff final is so far away, we were Champions Cup winners but it's behind us.
"We don't wake up and say 'We have to do the double' when we are having a shave.
"The double would be the consequence of something to show that we've evolved to be more consistent like Toulouse in a final."
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