Having worked together previously, Joey Carbery and Noel McNamara have teamed up at the Top 14 club. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Little did Joey Carbery and Noel McNamara know when they first crossed paths with the Leinster Schools team in 2013 that they would end up in Bordeaux together 12 years later, plotting the Champions Cup exit of a province very close to their hearts.
Carbery might well have found his way to the French outfit anyway, yet it was McNamara who first floated the idea when it became clear that he was toying with the notion of seeking a fresh challenge outside of Ireland.