Leinster forwards coach Robin McBryde has named Carlü Sadie among the biggest individual threats posed by Bordeaux Bègles in Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup final.
The South African tighthead prop joined the French club from the Sharks in 2023 and has made 66 appearances for them, including six starts in this season’s Champions Cup campaign.
McBryde singled out Sadie’s scrummaging prowess while highlighting the overall strength of the reigning champions ahead of the Bilbao showdown.
“I don’t know where to start really,” McBryde said of Bordeaux.
“They’ve got some great individuals, but they play collectively very well. They’ve got a great understanding collectively as a team.
“You’ve got somebody like [Tongan prop] Ben Tameifuna who’s a bit of an icon for them now. He gets around the loose as well and he’s pretty destructive from five metres out. You’ve got Sadie, who’s an outstanding scrummager.
“I could go on really, but they’re a pretty all-round good team.”
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McBryde also praised the influence of loose forward Cameron Woki and Bordeaux’s cohesion across the park.
“Woki’s outstanding as an individual, but the way that he plays with the 9 and 10, they’re obviously all on the same page,” he said.
Leinster head into the decider carrying the scars of recent Champions Cup final defeats to La Rochelle and Toulouse, but McBryde believes the Irish giants have learned valuable lessons from those heartbreaks.
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“If you were to add all our best moments in the finals, I’m sure somewhere you’d be able to put a final together that we actually win,” he joked.
“We just need to stack those good moments on top of good moments and live in that moment.”
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Photo: @carlusadie/Instagram
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