For the fifth year in a row the Champions Cup has been won by a French team and Bernard Jackman believes the “inclusive” pathways in the country have played a big role.
Bordeaux Begles beat Northampton Saints in Cardiff yesterday to win the trophy for the first time.
In the four previous seasons, Toulouse and La Rochelle each won twice, beating Leinster, who last tasted victory in 2018, three times in the finals.
With Les Bleus winning the Six Nations last spring, French rugby remains on the up, and two RTÉ Rugby analysts believe their ability to keep producing players from differing pathways can keep it at the summit.
The vast majority of Ireland’s professional players came through the schools system before joining provincial academies, with a handful of players, such as Jamison Gibson-Park and Mack Hansen coming from abroad.
Jackman, who won the Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009, used the example of Bordeaux flanker Mahamadou Diaby, who started in yesterday’s final to illustrate the difference between the routes to professional rugby in Ireland and France.
“It’s very inclusive,” he told RTÉ Sport. “So the number 6, Mahamadou Diaby. I was lucky enough to coach him for a little while in Grenoble.
“He saw the Rugby World Cup 2007 on TV, [he’s] from a very tough part of Paris, no rugby club near him.
“He was a kickboxer at 15, he said, ‘oh, I can play rugby, I’m physical’.
“He went to Stade Francais, knocked on the door looking for a trial, they said we don’t give trials to people who don’t play.
“He went to Racing [92], they tested him, gave him a contract and now, 14 years later, having had numerous clubs, he’s playing here.
“You’ve got all this talent, all these clubs and yet they create opportunities for people who have a physical ability to stay in the game.
“And that’s scary.
“When you look at our pathways, it’s very traditional.
“We haven’t really opened up the game to different areas as much as we could.
“When you look at our pathways, it’s very traditional. We haven’t really opened up the game to different areas as much as we could”
“Obviously, we are competing with soccer, GAA but they are competing with basketball, handball and soccer as well.
“But the rugby clubs there are very inclusive, and they want to bring through talent and are willing to spend time trying to develop it.”
Former Ireland number 8 Jamie Heaslip concurred with Jackman.
“They have more players, more clubs, more entry points into the game, and if you don’t make it in one club, you can kind of bounce around numerous clubs to find your spot,” said Heaslip.
“Whereas in Ireland, there’s four professional clubs.
“If you don’t really make it early on, you can’t really go to England or France anymore because they want to pick players eligible for the national side so your options are limited and the fall-off happens a whole lot quicker, while guys can try and make a career.
“It’s kind of scary because the same thing happens in England, they can bounce around a certain amount of clubs.
“That’s why I would be slightly concerned about the age profile of a lot of these teams that are at the top level coming through, and you are seeing the knock-on effect of England going well, France going particularly well and potentially going to be dangerous sides going forward.”
While Leinster made it to the semi-finals, Ulster and Munster were knocked out in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively, both beaten by Bordeaux.
While Leinster made it to the semi-finals, Ulster and Munster were knocked out in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively, both beaten by Bordeaux.
Connacht, meanwhile, lost a home Challenge Cup quarter-final to Racing 92 after topping the pool stages.
The last team other than Leinster to win in Europe was Munster in 2008.
“It’s imperative for Irish rugby that we don’t just become reliant on Leinster, we’ve given them a lot of backing, they’ve got to try and fix the issues there,” said Jackman.
“It’s great to see the likes of [Australia prop] Angus Bell going to Ulster, Clayton McMillan coming into Munster [as new head coach] – the Chiefs are playing unbelievable rugby.
“We just need to boost the other three so we have four teams going into Europe with a fighting chance.
