When Trevor Brennan joined Toulouse in the summer of 2002, he was soon given an indication of the importance attributed to the Bouclier de Brennus, the unique brass shield and plaque given to the winners of the French Championship every season.
One of Brennan’s new teammates, Christian Labit, told him a story relating to three years previously, when Toulouse had beaten Montferrand (now Clermont Auvergne) in the final. During the ensuing off-season, Labit was entrusted with the Bouclier for a few days and wrapped it in the boot of his car before driving to Toulon, where his father lived.
The Bouclier is one of the most instantly recognisable trophies in French sport. It was the brainchild of Pierre de Coubertin, subsequent founder of the Olympic Games, and is named after the sculptor Charles Brennus, whom De Coubertin asked to make the trophy.
Labit drove to Toulon and brought his father – a tough, tattooed navy man – outside to his parked car, opened the boot and unfurled the towel in which he had wrapped the Bouclier. Labit told Brennan it was the first time he had ever seen his father cry.
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There are, no doubt, countless other stories which underline the mystical powers of the Bouclier, which has been the prize on offer for the 134-year history of the French Championship. Brennan and Labit would play alongside each other in the Toulouse back-row when they beat Perpignan in the Heineken Cup final at Lansdowne Road in 2003. They also paired up in the French Championship final which they lost to Stade Francais that season.
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They were teammates again in the losing Heineken Cup final against Wasps after extra time in 2004 and started the final in 2005 when Toulouse reclaimed the trophy by beating Stade Francais at Murrayfield.
However, Toulouse would not reach another French Championship final until 2006 when Brennan started again while Labit had moved on, but they lost to Biarritz at the Stade de France. A year later, the former Leinster and Ireland lock/backrower retired without ever having won a French title in his five seasons with the club.
No Irish-born player had ever won the Bouclier until a year ago, 19 seasons on from Brennan’s last final with Toulouse, when his son Joshua – whom Trevor and Paula had brought to France as a baby – lifted the Bouclier with his Toulouse teammates.
There are lovely pictures of the two together in the Toulouse dressingroom after the final. Josh probably had fun at his dad’s expense after bettering him by winning an elusive French Championship.
The younger Brennan was a replacement when Toulouse beat a patched-up and weary Bordeaux Begles by 59-3 a year ago. He was picked to start in last Saturday night’s repeat final on a hot and humid night at the Stade de France, underlining the feeling that he is getting closer to a first French cap.
President Emmanuel Macron was among the 78,534 capacity attendance which was a sea of red and white (Bordeaux wore their second strip).
Given his declining popularity, Macron was wise enough to shake hands with the players beforehand inside the stadium rather than on the pitch. The sense of occasion was heightened by a 200-strong choir providing a memorable rendition of La Marseillaise.
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The match overflowed with drama and went to extra-time, which was a tribute to Bordeaux’s defiance. It was also an illustration of the performances of their lock Guido Petti, in his last game before joining Harlequins, Maxime Lucu, who was outstanding and made the score 33-33 with a 45-metre penalty on the stroke of 80 minutes, and Damian Penaud.
The Toulouse pack, with Brennan having a big game and Anthony Jelonch outstanding after missing the last two finals through injury, imposed themselves on Bordeaux through their superior scrum and maul. They eventually prevailed through two penalties by the dead-eyed Thomas Ramos in extra-time. They also brought huge line speed in dominating the collisions and largely starving their opponents’ gifted backs, albeit Louis Bielle-Biarrey was a big loss through a recurrence of the knee injury which ruled him out of the semi-final. Then again, Toulouse were without Antoine Dupont, Peato Mauvaka and Ange Capuozzo among others.
It seemed cruel on UBB that such a brilliant season, in which they had won their first Champions Cup, should end in such heartbreak. Hence, attack coach Noel McNamara and Joey Carbery will have to wait at least another year in seeking to become the first Irish coach and first Irish player, per se, to win the Bouclier.
Carbery came on for the second period of extra time and slotted in seamlessly again. Despite the fractured hand he suffered in his debut, Carbery has played 22 games since his return in early November, starting 14 of them. Still only 29, he has many more good years ahead of him and remains a class player who will only have gained from his French sojourn.
With another 12 months on his contract, David Humphreys and Andy Farrell could do worse than try to lure him home in a year’s time. Perhaps linking up once again with Stuart Lancaster at Connacht, after their productive time together at Leinster, is an option worth exploring.
There were familiar scenes at the Rue de la Concorde as the Toulouse squad again celebrated long into the night. This was their third Bouclier in a row and 24th in total to go with their six Champions Cup stars. It’s in their DNA. When you know how to win, you know how to win.
As an aside, this final was watched by 5.5 million on free-to-air France Television. It was also watched by an additional audience of about one million on pay-per-view with Canal+.
Meanwhile, the URC, Premiership and Champions Cup finals were all behind paywalls, with the exception of TG4 in Ireland. That will continue to be the case for the next four years.
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