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Investec Champions Cup: Europe’s finest deliver a saintly message

Published

1 year ago

4th May 2025

Keo

On Saturday, Northampton Saints did the unthinkable and beat Leinster in Dublin. On Sunday, Bordeaux buried Toulouse in the most spectacular semi-final weekend of Investec Champions Cup rugby, writes Mark Keohane.

Take a breath and just know this was proper. There is no club rugby competition better than the Champions Cup. It is the World Cup of club rugby because it is all about the knockout.

Who would have thought the Saints would march in Dublin? Equally, only Bordeaux and my mate Zels gave the hosts victory against Toulouse.

Zels is the oracle of Investec Champions Cup play-offs. He has called the past four seasons and crowned the champion before kick-off.

Keo & Zels make their predictions for the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals: pic.twitter.com/yQZxqPxUyF

— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) May 3, 2025

EPCR Chair DOMINIC MCKAY was privileged to be in Dublin and Bordeaux on Saturday and Sunday. He experienced two results that continue to breath so much life into the best club rugby competition in the world.

‘Dublin was a credit to the game. Leinster and Northampton produced something special and the result was in the balance on the 80th minute. The crowd was incredible, the occasion lived up to the hype and the quality of rugby was befitting the moment,’ said McKay.

‘Then, 24 hours later, the two giants of the Top 14 (Toulouse and Bordeaux) produced another epic battle. The match, a 42 000 sell-out within three hours, lived up to the billing of Top 14’s top two league teams and two teams that have given so much joy to us spectators in the Investec Champions Cup. It was a thrilling weekend of rugby, and it was a weekend in which two teams (Toulouse and Leinster), with 10 stars between them, bowed out. That alone is such a reminder of how tough it is to win this competition and Bordeaux and Northampton being the finalists in Cardiff later this month means we will have a new champion.’

McKay was as awed by the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-finals, won by the top Premiership side Bath, coached by South African Johann van Graan and Lyon, who will be the host city for the 2027 finals weekend.

‘The quality of rugby, the passion, the crowd and the desire of the players was immense. Those who watched all four matches got something special. Cardiff is going to be huge later this month,’ said McKay.

Bordeaux Flyhalf Mattieu Jalibert was on fire, as was winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who scored two tries. The hosts scored five tries to two, despite making 54 more tackles and having just 42 percent possession.

Scrumhalf and captain Maxime Lucu bossed the game and popular prop Ben Temeifuna provided impact from the bench. Toulouse were not quite the same without talisman Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and Blair Kinghorn, who are injured.

This was sweet revenge for last season’s Top 14 when Toulouse, having won the Investec Champions Cup, hammered Bordeaux 59-3 in the Top 14 final to complete the double.