Northampton Saints 20-28 Bordeaux-Begles: French side claim their first Champions Cup title in Cardiff

Bordeaux-Begles became Champions Cup winners for the first time with victory over Northampton in Cardiff

Bordeaux-Begles displayed their superb combination of power and pace in a 28-20 victory to secure a first Champions Cup title in their history against a brave Northampton Saints effort in Cardiff. 

Northampton, who came into the contest already shorn of No 8 Juarno Augustus and wing George Hendy due to injuries, lost wing James Ramm in the opening moments, full-back George Furbank was stretchered off due to a head knock shortly after and lock Temo Mayanavanua failed a first-half HIA.

Yet, each time Saints looked out of it they hit back in a stunning first half which finished 20-20 at the break - a Champions Cup final record for points in an opening 40 minutes.

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Lethal Bordeaux wing Damian Penaud scored twice in that period, with lock Adam Coleman also getting over, while Saints scored through two Alex Coles tries and 10 points via the boot of Fin Smith.

A second-half sin-binning for replacement lock Ed Prowse - with Tommy Freeman already in the bin - proved crucial as Bordeaux kicked on to create a two-score lead for the first time through a Cyril Cazeaux try and Maxime Lucu penalty.

Although Northampton did well to remain in the contest and deny Bordeaux further scores, they just did not have enough to fire shots back in return by the end.

Saints made a stunning start to the final, scoring inside the opening two minutes after winning possession back from the kick-off and not letting up until Coles did brilliantly to ground the ball by the posts just when it looked as if he was going to be held up in-goal.

Alex Coles did well to get the ball down for the opening try less than two minutes in

By the fifth minute, Ramm and Furbank were gone from Northampton's starting backline, causing a rejig as Tom Litchfield and Ollie Sleightholme came onto the wings and Freeman shifted to full-back. Within moments, Penaud was over for his opener after quick hands through Bordeaux's stellar line-up of backs.

Damian Penaud responded with Bordeaux's first try after much Northampton backline disruption

Matthieu Jalibert poorly missed the conversion off the post, before Bordeaux flyer Louis Bielle-Biarrey then got over for a try in the 14th minute, only for the TMO to rule it out due to an earlier forward pass. Five minutes later, the French side did have their second try for the lead.

A lineout move appeared to break down in the Northampton 22 when centre Yoram Moefana spilled the ball backwards, but Jalibert took it upon himself to create the score with an assist of exceptional quality, stepping and jinking at supreme pace before offloading the ball out to Coleman in the corner for the try.

Lock Adam Coleman dived over in the corner after a magic Matthieu Jalibert assist for Bordeaux's second try

Jalibert landed the conversion this time for a 12-7 lead, but Saints soon narrowed the gap through a long-range Smith penalty.

A further Jalibert penalty then preceded Bordeaux going down to 14 as flanker Mahamadou Diaby was sin-binned for a high tackle on Mayanavanua. Smith narrowed the gap back to two points as Northampton chose to take the points with Bordeaux defending strongly, while Henry Pollock - quiet in the game by his own lofty recent standards - then saw a try ruled out for offside (ahead of the kicker).

Instead, the 14 men of Bordeaux countered and after Penaud was taken in the air by Freeman, the Northampton player was shown yellow and Penaud was soon over in the corner as Jalibert grabbed another assist, doing well to regather a charged down kick.

There remained time for one more attack in the half when prop Trevor Davidson won a breakdown penalty, and Saints took full advantage as Fraser Dingwall and Sleightholme combined to send Coles in. Smith converted from out wide to level things up at 20-20 after a breathless 40.

In the final play of the first half, Coles brought Northampton level again with his second try

Into the second half, Northampton appeared to have made the perfect start when Pollock raced in down the short-side off a cutely disguised lineout move. The score was ruled out by the TMO for earlier holding by Coles on tighthead Ben Tameifuna in the lineout, however.

A minute later, momentum swung again when Prowse was penalised for a high tackle on Moefana and sent to the sin-bin, reducing Saints to 13 for a time.

Bordeaux somewhat bizarrely chose to kick for points despite being up against two players less: Lucu landing a fine strike for 23-20.

Bordeaux captain Maxime Lucu kicked a second-half penalty before they grabbed a crucial fourth try for a two-score lead

Freeman soon re-emerged and Bordeaux were denied another try when hooker Maxime Lamothe was found to have lost control in the act of grounding at the back of a maul.

Immense Northampton goal-line defence denied Bordeaux further, but in the final attack with Prowse still off the pitch, Cazeaux twisted and turned his way over to get the ball down in not too dissimilar fashion to Coles at the start of the contest.

Bordeaux-Begles lock Cyril Cazeaux looks to the referee having got the ball down in-goal for a crucial second-half try

Lucu hit the post with the conversion, but the patched-up Saints, for all their magnificent defending and sheer will, failed to carve out a clear chance to put pressure back on the French side in the final quarter.

Dingwall: They won the crucial moments

Northampton captain Fraser Dingwall said post-match...

"I think unfortunately they won the critical moments. They managed to capitalise winning breakdowns or scoring tries. That was ultimately the difference in the game.

"It is those tiny moments at the top levels. We are never going to roll over and we are always going to be there.

"But when you are playing good teams you can't keep giving them opportunities in those areas because they will take one of them.

"I am immensely proud of the boys. It is gutting. We have had some huge wins and we have shown some huge class and character throughout this tournament.

"Sometimes this is just the way it goes."

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