Rabah Slimani: 'Leinster have a team to beat Bordeaux'

It'll be Toulon next term for the Frenchman.

EXIT INTERVIEW: Rabah Slimani during Leinster Rugby squad training this week. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher

Rabah Slimani will kickstart another chapter in his career when he switches to Toulon this summer, but there were no divided loyalties last week as he helped his current side past his future employers in the Champions Cup semi-finals.

His knowledge of the French scrummaging mindset and techniques, and of front row threats like Jean-Baptiste Gros, Kyle Sinckler and Teddy Baubigny, can’t have hurt. All “small things to dominate the Toulon scrum”, as he said himself.

And there was a shift off the bench with it.

Leinster won a string of penalties at the setpiece. It was an astonishing effort given some of the difficulties experienced by Irish scrums at club and Test level recently. The man from the northern Parisian suburb of Sarcelles was anything but surprised.

“No, because we have a very good scrum and we are too confident about that. I know the guys, we spoke about the scrum during the week. We did very good scrum training and I was very confident before the game.” Slimani’s unique insight had already been called upon earlier in the campaign when Leinster eked wins out against La Rochelle and Bayonne in the pool stages, and it will be utilised one more time when they face Bordeaux-Begles in the final in Bilbao.

The reigning champions boast a star-studded backline but they haven’t reached these heights without an outstanding pack. Slimani knows that better than most, but he isn’t of a mind to talk the opposition up too much either.

Leinster, he said, “have a team to beat Bordeaux” in the San Mames.

“I think I don’t need to talk about Bordeaux. Just we need to believe in us. Just to be confident. We have a good team, we play very well and we don’t need to just watch Bordeaux play.

“We need to put pressure on them, on the scrum, on the lineout, and just play the Leinster game. Leinster rugby: that’s it. Because everyone says, ‘Bordeaux is a very good team’, but everyone knows Leinster.

“When I played in France and I heard Leinster, I know what is the Leinster game and we just need to do that.” If Slimani has been good for Leinster, then Leinster has been good for him.

The move had landed out of the blue. Former Leinster assistant Jono Gibbes had signed him for three years with Clermont Auvergne, two as a player and the last as a coach, but Gibbes only lasted 18 months himself.

The offer of that third season never came and that left Slimani “a bit scared” and with nothing arranged going forward until his agent rang to say that Leo Cullen had been in touch to see if he’d fancy a change of scenery.

Stunned probably sums up Slimani’s reaction.

Cullen was straight up with him from the off. The Frenchman was 34 at the time and, while his impact on the pitch was needed, Leinster wanted him to help in ushering through their younger generation of props. That was just fine with him.

Injury has curtailed some of his game time but Tadhg Furlong’s injury issues offered opportunities too. Swings and roundabouts. And he can look at the progress made by someone like Thomas Clarkson now and take unvarnished pleasure from it.

“When I sign here, I know the rules. I'm happy to see TC now with the Irish team and the Lions. For me, it's very, very good because I learned with him, and he learned with me, and the same for the other young players, loosehead or tighthead.” 

Christophe Urios, who took over from Gibbes at Clermont, had described this as “an incredible opportunity” at the time. It has gone so well for Slimani that he was recalled to the French squad in January of 2025, six years after his last cap.

Life off the field has been just as rewarding. Not one for the pub scene, he is a black coffee drinker who has discovered the joys of a flat white in Dublin, and he intends to catch a GAA game before making the move back to France.

Toulon weren’t the only club eager to use his services next term. Lyon and PRO D2 outfit Provence were said to be interested as well, but the main reason for his upcoming departure lies closer to home.

"No, it's not an easy decision but last year I moved [here] with my wife and my daughter and this year they stay in France, and I think it's a little bit difficult for my daughter and that's why I prefer to go back to France.

"But I know I'll not find another team like Leinster, and I'll miss Leinster next year. I'm very happy to join Toulon because that's a very big team. I know the coach and he's a very good coach, but the atmosphere, to live in Dublin, yeah, it’s tough [to leave].”