LONDON :There is a fresh and exciting look to the European Champions Cup final as Northampton face Bordeaux Begles at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, with the English club in the final for the first time since 2011 and the French side making their debut.
In the last 15 years Leinster (seven finals), Saracens (four), La Rochelle (three), Clermont (three), Toulon (three) and Toulouse (three) have dominated Europe’s premier club competition.
Leinster were denied a fourth successive appearance – having lost the last three – by an inspired Northampton in an epic semi-final. The team languishing in eighth place in the 10-team Premiership overcame yet another home advantage for the Irish side, who have provided 12 players for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, to triumph 37-34.
That earned Northampton a third appearance in the final after their victory over Munster in 2000 and defeat to Leinster in 2011 and they will be the first English club in the decider since Exeter beat Racing in 2020.
Northampton’s defence of their Premiership title has not gone well this season but in Europe they have hit the heights.
Their backline is virtually England’s and, in 19-year-old flanker Henry Pollock, they have one of the breakout stars of the sport.
Pollock had not started a Premiership game before this season and was playing for England’s under-20s in February, but his incredible combination of pace, athletic ability, nose for a turnover and aggressive mindset have catapulted him into stardom.
He scored two tries on his debut off the bench for England in March and is in the Lions squad, sealing his ticket with a brilliant display against Leinster in the semi-final.
Tommy Freeman, another Lion and prolific try-scorer for England, grabbed a hat-trick in Dublin while Fin Smith, another enjoying a breakthrough season, was superb at flyhalf as Northampton stunned Leinster with their ambition in attack then held them at bay at the death with a backs-to-the-wall defensive effort on their own line.
“We want to make sure that the semi-final is not the summit of our season, director of rugby Phil Dowson told the club’s website. “We have to focus on what it means to perform on a big stage, we don’t want to get too caught up in ‘it’s been 25 years and are we going to do something different’.”
Bordeaux are hardly short of stardust themselves, with France wingers Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey giving them dual finishing power that is the envy of the world.
Bordeaux navigated through the pool stage comfortably with four bonus-point wins before overcoming Ulster 43-31 in the round of 16 and Munster 47-29 in the last eight as Penaud set a tournament record of 12 tries.
They then found a new level with a clinical 35-18 semi-final victory over Toulouse, who they trail by one place at the head of the French top 14 table.
Bielle-Biarrey, who like Freeman scored in every match of the Six Nations as he bagged a tournament record eight, has been similarly deadly for his club.
The 21-year-old’s frightening pace has increasingly become the cutting edge that finishes off Bordeaux’s attacks and he scored a crucial try against Munster in the quarters then two in the semi-final win over Toulouse.
“Louis – sometimes you see it, you know he’s going to do it, and he still does it, even if the defender is expecting it,” said fullback Romain Buros. “Naturally, it’s great to play with players like that, because defenders tend to focus a bit more on them than on others, and that creates space for the rest of us.”
Reaching the final is a significant milestone for the club, which was founded in 2006 via the merger of Stade Bordelais and Begles and promoted to France’s top 14 in 2011.
There is another Anglo-French meeting in the final of the Challenge Cup in Cardiff on Friday night when Premiership leaders Bath take on Lyon.
