2025 European Rugby Champions Cup final

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2025 European Rugby Champions Cup final
The match took place at the Principality Stadium
Event2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
Date24 May 2025
VenueMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
Player of the MatchMaxime Lucu (Bordeaux Bègles)
RefereeNika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Attendance70,225
WeatherRoof closed
2024
2026

The 2025 European Rugby Champions Cup final was the final match of the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup campaign, and the 30th European club rugby final in general. It was contested by Bordeaux Bègles and Northampton Saints on 24 May 2025.[1]

The Millennium Stadium was the host venue, the sixth time the European final has been at the stadium, matching Twickenham Stadium's record of six finals.[2]

Bordeaux Bègles won the final, beating Northampton Saints 28–20.[3][4]

For Bordeaux, this was the first time that side had made a European final, and just their second major final (having only made a domestic final once), in their history. Northampton Saints, on the other hand, was making their fourth appearance in a European final, though their first since their 2014 Challenge Cup title, and their first Champions Cup final since 2011.

The two sides had only met once before in their history, coming during the 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup, where Bordeaux won 16–12 at Franklin's Gardens.[5]

The two sides entered the final on different domestic forms; Bordeaux were sitting comfortably in the top 4 of the table in the 2024–25 Top 14 season, whilst Northampton Saints had already dropped out of the Premiership Rugby title race and therefore unable to retain their title. However, their European form had seen Northampton Saints only lose one game; a 45–35 loss to Stade Français in the pool stages.[6] Whilst for Bordeaux, they entered the final as top seed after winning all their games in the pool stage with a bonus points before their run in the knockouts saw them progress to the final.

Route to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

France Bordeaux Bègles Round England Northampton Saints
Opponent Result Pool stage Opponent Result
England Leicester Tigers 42–28 (H) Round 1 France Castres 38–8 (H)
Ireland Ulster 40–10 (A) Round 2 South Africa Bulls 30–21 (A)
England Exeter Chiefs 69–17 (A) Round 3 France Stade Français 35–45 (A)
South Africa Sharks 66–12 (H) Round 4 Ireland Munster 34–32 (H)
Final standings
Pool 1 Top 4
Team P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
France Bordeaux Bègles 440021776+14133124020
France Toulouse 440022562+1633393019
England Leicester Tigers 4202134149−1520213011
Ireland Ulster 4103102163−611524105
Pool 3 Top 4
Team P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
England Northampton Saints 4301137106+3120154016
France Castres 430110586+1913132014
Ireland Munster 42029669+271372212
England Saracens 42029171+201192111
Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result
Ireland Ulster 43–31 (H) Round of 16 France Clermont 46–24 (H)
Ireland Munster 47–29 (H) Quarter-finals France Castres 51–16 (H)
France Toulouse 35–18 (H) Semi-finals Ireland Leinster 37–34 (A)

Match

References

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