Next in his supersonic sights are Northampton as his Bordeaux-Begles team prepare for Saturday's Champions Cup final. It is the sort of afternoon Bielle-Biarrey has dreamed about since he was five. Joel took Louis and his brother Samuel to their local club - Seyssins in Grenoble - after his wife Sandrine lost patience with the boys' back garden games. "They both loved it from the beginning," remembers Joel. Louis would sleep cuddled up to a rugby ball. The red scrum cap that has become a trademark was initially a present from his parents. "When his primary school teacher asked the class what they wanted to be, some of the kids said fire fighter, others said a doctor, Louis always said he wanted to be a professional rugby player," says Joel. "I told him that he wouldn't, that he would be an engineer just like his dad!" After Bielle-Biarrey clocked those first eye-popping speeds in a Grenoble fitness test though, those chances slimmed considerably. After hanging up on Joel, the fitness trainer's next call was to Paris. Bielle-Biarrey's stats were so impressive, they breached a French union threshold. Anyone putting up such numbers needed to be dialled directly into the union's headquarters at Marcoussis. Bielle-Biarrey duly scorched up a series of trials and was fast-tracked into the France Under-20 squad, still aged just 17. Joel had to sign a waiver to allow him to be involved. Having turned 18 just six days earlier, he made his debut against Italy in the 2021 Under-20 Six Nations and crossed for a try in the campaign-closing win over Ireland a few weeks later. Top 14 clubs sniffed a talent. Bordeaux president Laurent Marti's early and enthusiastic pitch won out. Bielle-Biarrey arrived at the club in 2021, intending to train with the first team, but play for the under-21 side. However, an injury to full-back Romain Buros opened up a slot for a first senior start in a Champions Cup match against Scarlets in January 2022. Bielle-Biarry, just 18, scored a hat-trick.