With a combined scoreline of 100-45, it's fair to say Irish rugby was humbled in Bilbao across the Challenge and Champions Cup final weekend.
There was at least some Irish joy at San Mames on Saturday afternoon, where Joey Carbery and Noel McNamara were part of the Bordeaux-Begles celebrations.
Ironically, Carbery will join Leinster next season from the European champions, although a long-term knee injury means he was a spectator on Saturday.
McNamara’s rise up the coaching world continued as the Clare man helped deliver a second consecutive Champions Cup title to the French side, while he recently extended his contract at Stade Chaban-Delmas
Their 41-19 destruction of Leinster was an emphatic retention of what was a surprise win last season.
And it came with an ominous warning that there is even more to come from the new French powerhouse.
"The ceiling is a long, long way away," the Bordeaux attack coach (below) said of his side’s future potential.
"Where is the ceiling for someone like Louis Bielle-Biarrey? I'm not sure.
"Matthieu Jalibert, you know, we talk about tens reaching their peak when they're in their thirties.
"Max Lucu is like Benjamin Button. He seems to be getting better all the time. And you know, Marko Gazzotti is really young.
"So I hope, and the goal is, that this team continues to get better."
The next step for UBB will be to conquer France, having finished runners up to Toulouse in each of the last two seasons.
Fifth in the table with two rounds left to play, they are still in a fight to make the play-offs.
And while a Bouclier de Brennus is their north star, McNamara says it was important for them to prove last year’s Champions Cup win was no flash in the pan.
"The players have been really motivated by that. There is a feeling within the group that nobody can argue with the title if you go and beat the champions of the URC, champions of the Premiership, champions of France three times in a row and Leicester Tigers who are flying high in the Premiership.
"That was a big motivating factor. There was never an over-confidence. The players are clear on what they need to do to perform.
"We've got an opportunity in the Top14. We're not in a position that we would like to be. We'd like to be slightly stronger.
"But you know, this group are motivated to really write their history because that's what they're doing.
"Yes, Begles had won things before, but this is an opportunity for them with this generation to really do something special," he added.
The rise of Bordeaux has been a remarkable story in recent seasons, with McNamara and head coach Yannick Bru still just three seasons into their time at the club since joining from the Sharks in 2023.
And he admits he couldn’t have expected this kind of success when he and his family made the decision to move to France.
"You're never going to think like that.
"All I thought about really was it's an opportunity to work with a fantastic group of players.
"I think when I looked around at the players that we had, who were quite young at the time; Louis [Bielle-Biarrey] had just obviously broken through into the French team and Nicolas Depoortere had been involved with the French under-20s, Matthieu [Jalibert], Max [Lucu], Yoram [Moefana] and obviously the forwards as well. So no, you could never predict.
"I did know that if we got it right, we would have an opportunity to win things. And that's all you can ask for.
"I think if you come to a club, if you do things well, you'll have an opportunity hopefully to win something."
Previously the head of the Leinster academy, McNamara would have worked with many of their players, as well as head coach Leo Cullen during his time at the province, as well as through his experiences with the Ireland U20s.
And while it was a chastening defeat for Leinster on Saturday, he still expects them to be challenging for that elusive fifth title for a long time ahead.
"I'm really disappointed for them. But you know, the goal today was to win, and unfortunately, that means that somebody is going to miss out.
"I think they deserve a huge amount of credit for the consistency that they've shown. And I've no doubt that they'll come back again," the ex-Ireland U20 head coach predicted.
