Leinster suffer Champions Cup humbling at the hands of Bordeaux

About this episode

Nathan Johns and Gerry Thornley discuss the recent defeats of Leinster and Ulster in the Champions Cup finals.

Both Leinster and Ulster struck early in their respective finals, only to be pegged back soon after as both sides suffered chastening defeats. Is this Leinster's most damaging final defeat since they last won the Champions Cup in 2018? Did the heat and conditions suit the French sides? And how do the provinces close the gap on Bordeaux, Montpellier and others from the Top 14? Nathan Johns and Gerry Thornley are in Bilbao as they dissect defeats for Leinster and Ulster on a damaging European weekend for Irish rugby. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Nathan Johns

Guest: Gerry Thornley

Topics covered

• Champions Cup
• Leinster
• Ulster
• European rugby
• Top 14
• defeats
• Irish rugby

Keywords

• Leinster
• Ulster
• Champions Cup
• Bordeaux
• Montpellier
• Irish rugby
• defeats
• Bilbao

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Leinster, Ulster, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Top 14

Places: Bilbao

More episodes of The Counter Ruck: The Irish Times Rugby Podcast

• Where do Ireland go from here? · July 21, 2026 · 47 min
• Reaction: New Zealand ease to victory over Ireland · July 18, 2026 · 19 min
• Underdog Ireland gear up for All Blacks test · July 17, 2026 · 24 min
• Irish rugby's state of the union down under · July 14, 2026 · 32 min
• Reaction: Ireland run in five tries as they beat Japan · July 11, 2026 · 22 min
• What to make of Ireland's rotation for Japan? · July 10, 2026 · 30 min