State of mind, protocol, bench … The Bordeaux-Bègles Union never gives up

It has become the signature of the UBB! And she has been branding her opponents with a hot iron for almost two years. We are talking about these many victories acquired in the very last minutes of matches, or even beyond regulation time.
The Bordeaux-Bègles Union version Christophe Urios often ends his meetings with a cannon ball. The victory against the English Bristol last week confirmed this habit with two tries at the end of the match at 14 against 15 to confirm the qualification for the quarter-finals of
Champions Cup.

This Sunday (1:30 p.m.) at the Chaban-Delmas stadium, the Bordelais will find precisely in quarter a team which has already lived this scenario against them, Racing 92. Twice in two years in the Top 14. “It’s a bit of the club’s trademark,” admits Olivier Brouzet, the former international second row. Before recently leaving the UBB, the former director of development of the club experienced a few victories at the finish last season (Toulouse, Castres or La Rochelle) and in recent months (Castres, Montpellier or even Clermont), with the added bonus this season of successes of a point thanks for example to tests in the 80th and 89th minute in the Tarn and in Auvergne. Feats that are no longer really when they become so repetitive.

UBB on “red alert” before its exciting end of the season with Picamoles https://t.co/8s8fO9MTpO

– 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) March 18, 2021

When Urios is inspired by Ferguson

As often at the Union for two years, these victories owe a lot to his manager Christophe Urios. If he is not on the field to go flatten the winning ball and even less to hit the penalty or the victorious transformation, he has transmitted to his players this refusal of defeat. “The team never gives up, they send a lot of play from start to finish and always believe in their chances. It is a very close-knit team with good comrades who want to give themselves on the field together and it transpires especially on these important moments in the money time ”, explains Olivier Brouzet.

To succeed in impregnating this culture of winning for his players, as he had also done in Oyonnax or Castres in the past, Christophe Urios was inspired by a certain Sir Alex Ferguson. “I have always been impressed with what he said to Manchester United. When they played at Old Trafford he would say ‘the last quarter of an hour is ours’. Whatever happened on the pitch, they knew they were going to score, equalize or take the score. »Hence the Fergie Time! So after each month, he looks to see if his team has won in the last 20 minutes. It’s even almost an obsession for him:

We want to be the best at it. Why ? Because, one, that means that physically, we are ready, two, that it is our state of mind. We never let go. We never give up. And that is important. “

So important in his eyes that he did not hesitate, a few weeks ago, to offer a book to his players on the subject: The art of the niaque, by Angela Duckworth. A book on which this madman of management relies a lot. “He speaks of passion and especially of perseverance, details Frédéric Rey-Millet co-author with the Bordeaux coach of 15 leadership lessons,Christophe [Urios] also very often rehashes the All Black mantra to its players: Being better never stops! And especially not before the referee’s final whistle.

” I’m building [surtout] a team to finish the match ”

If of course a lot of things are played in the “face” according to Urios, it is not only that. Other factors come into play, in particular the physical dimension. At UBB, for example, the staff has set up a diet and athletic protocol to give players a second wind from the 60th minute of play. The Bordeaux bench has also often made the difference for two years thanks to its “Impact players”, like a Ravaï last season or a Lamothe, a Dweba, a Kaulaschvili this season. These beautiful babies bring a lot of tone against worn defenses late in the game.

“When you build a team, you build it to attack the match, but above all, I build a team to finish the match,” recalls Christophe Urios. Moreover, we no longer speak of substitutes but of finishers in modern rugby. Managers no longer make up a starting team but a group with most of the time completely interchangeable players. The Bordeaux-Bègles Union can, for example, rely on the very great wealth of its workforce in the second and third line (Marais, Douglas, Cazeaux, Petti, Woki, Roumat, Higgimbotham, Picamoles, etc.). It remains for the Girondin coach to strum according to the profiles of his players and the opponent of the day.