BORDEAUX-Begles finished last season at the end of June on the receiving end of the most one-sided of all French finals, swamped on a Mediterranean shore by Toulouse to the tune of 59-3.
If the result in Marseille suggested that the challengers simply failed to turn up, nothing could have been further from the truth.
The runners-up gave the obligatory blood, sweat and tears by the bucketful from start to finish. It was their misfortune to run into Toulouse on a night when the champions of Europe touched perfection in delivering what looked like the most dazzling club performance the ...