It was refreshing to see the old competition still had plenty of oomph to offer though, admittedly, this was last April when Bordeaux Begles were on the wrong end of a dramatic Quarter-Final against Harlequins, who won in France by a solitary point.
It finished 42-41 to the visitors from London with 12 tries collectively being scored and the lead see-sawing between both; a defeat which cut to the quick for Yannick Bru, though he must have been wondering for a while last Sunday if his squad were about to rather tamely succumb to English opposition in their first round game of this campaign when hosting Leicester Tigers.
In fairness, Bru had warned that his charges were vulnerable ahead of this Champions Cup opener but when the game opened a bit in the second-half, up popped the dazzlingly quick Louis Bielle-Biarrey with two quick-fire tries either side of an effort by their No.8 Pete Samu.
Relief all round at Stade Chaban-Delmas for Les Girondins who are currently second in the Top 14 behind European and domestic champions from last season Toulouse ahead of facing Ulster.
Bru was both a player and coach at Toulouse — he also had stints on the French backroom team and at the Sharks in South Africa — which makes it all the more discomforting for the club that they made the last campaign’s Top 14 Final only to be shredded by Antoine Dupont and co to the tune of a staggering 59-3 on the scoreboard at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille.
That memory will require even more exorcising than what happened in Europe at the hands of Harlequins though Bru has recently pointed out that he is somewhat less than contented with his side’s performances regardless of them being second in the domestic table.
“At the end of last season, we were eighth or ninth defensively in the Top 14,” he said.
“We are around fourth at present. So on the state of mind, defensive solidarity and character, we are progressing.
“But on the collective control of our matches, whether on our collective attack, the static phases, we know that we must do much better.”
Clearly Michael Cheika and his coaching team noticed there was something to go after defensively and three first-half tries put them, for a while, in a strong position to pull off a shock result.
Bru will not want that to happen again to influence the performance and get in the way of Noel McNamara’s attack plays.
Indeed, it will be over to former Munster player Joey Carbery to put these plays into action as he gets the start at 10 against Ulster, coming in for Matthieu Jalibert as the only change to Bordeaux’s backline.
It means that Bielle-Biarrey is again at 15 with Damian Penaud on the right wing in a dynamic back three while the back-row has been completely altered with Marko Gazzotti, Lachlan Swinton and Tevita Tafafu selected.
Romain Latterrade and Carlü Sadie are brought into the front-row while the more familiar name of Jonny Gray goes again at lock with some ballast coming off the bench.
Bordeaux want this game, though Bru will demand vast improvements. He may well get them too.