Cardiff's Principality Stadium will serve as the stage for a thrilling climax to the European Rugby Champions Cup, when the Northampton Saints and the Bordeaux Begles go head-to-head for continental glory on Saturday.
Northampton will be making their first appearance in a Champions Cup final since 2011, while Bordeaux will be stepping onto European rugby's biggest stage for the very first time.
Match preview
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The Northampton Saints are the first Premiership side to reach the Champions Cup final since 2020, when Exeter Chiefs claimed the title behind closed doors, defeating Racing 92 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite their struggles in the Premiership this season, the Saints have impressed in Europe, topping their pool with three wins from four to finish ahead of Castres, Munster, Saracens, the Bulls and Stade Francais.
Sam Vesty's side began with a commanding 38-8 home win over Castres, backed it up with a 30-21 triumph at the Bulls' Loftus fortress, stumbled in a 45-35 shootout against Stade Francais in Paris, but secured top spot with a thrilling 34-32 victory over Munster at Franklin's Gardens.
In the knockout stages, Northampton cruised past Clermont 46-24 in the Round of 16 and thrashed Castres 51-16 in the quarter-finals, before defying the odds in the semi-finals with a stunning 37-34 win over tournament favourites Leinster in Dublin.
In terms of key stats, the English outfit has been one of the competition's most dynamic sides, leading in defenders beaten with 213, while also ranking third in carries with 944, tries with 39, points with 271, and sitting fourth for clean breaks with 76 and metres gained with 3,620.
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However, while the Northampton Saints' stats are impressive and there is no denying how well they have performed throughout the competition, the favoured Bordeaux Begles have been even more dominant.
Yannick Bru's side have established themselves as Europe's most potent attacking team, topping the charts in clean breaks, metres gained, tries and points, while also excelling defensively with the highest number of turnovers won (75), the best lineout success rate (91%), and the fourth best scrum performance (98%).
Last season's Top 14 runners-up secured the top seed heading into the Champions Cup playoffs after dominating their pool with wins over Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Exeter Chiefs and the Sharks, finishing with a perfect record and 20 log points.
Maintaining their incredible form, the Begles overcame Ulster 43-31 in the Round of 16 and Munster 47-29 in the quarter-finals, before delivering a commanding performance to oust the defending champions Stade Toulousain 35-18 in the final four.
These two sides have met only once before - a Bordeaux victory at Franklin's Gardens 25 years ago in this very competition - but with fresh faces on both teams and everything on the line, this final promises to be a clash for the ages.
Northampton Saints European Champions Cup form:
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
Bordeaux Begles European Champions Cup form:
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
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During their 28-24 win over Saracens last weekend, the Saints lost the trio of Curtis Langdon, James Ramm and Alex Coles to injuries, and none of the three are expected to feature in Cardiff.
Phil Dowson also confirmed last weekend that Juarno Augustus is ruled out for the Champions Cup final, after sustaining an injury in training leading up to the Sarries game at Franklin's Gardens.
After leaving the field with an ankle injury during Bordeaux's 35-18 semi-final victory over Toulouse, Bru confirmed on Tuesday that winger Damian Penaud, who has scored 21 tries and amassed 105 points, will be available for Saturday's final.
Cyril Cazeaux and Pete Samu have been excellent in the Begles dominant forward pack this season, driving physicality and control in both set-pieces and open play, and both are set to start again this weekend.
Northampton Saints predicted starting lineup: 15 Tom Seabrook, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Litchfield, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Ed Prowse, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tom West, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Tom Pearson, 20 Chunya Munga, 21 Angus Scott-Young, 22 Tom James, 23 George Furbank
Bordeaux Begles starting lineup: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (c), 8 Pete Samu, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Connor Sa, 17 Matis Perchaud, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Pierre Bochaton, 20 Marko Gazzotti, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Joey Carbery
We say: Northampton Saints 24-32 Bordeaux Begles
While the Northampton Saints have shortened in the betting market after their stunning victory over Leinster in the semi-final, the Bordeaux Begles are still the better and more balanced team in this contest, and we feel the Top 14 side will secure their first ever Champions Cup title this weekend.
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Devesh Jaganath
