A new name is on the cup. They reckon Union Bordeaux Bègles are the best-supported rugby union club in the world. To be in Cardiff was not to be disabused of the notion. Rugby is massive in France, on a par with football, and bigger in the southern half of the country. It creates a different kind of animal.
Northampton were proud, brave, inventive – but in the end overpowered. The narrative was wild and, Saints might say, liable to have gone either way. A raucous stadium – for Northampton are one of the best supported in England – was treated to crazy fluctuations in fortune, tries scored and overturned, penalties, knock-ons and high tackles subject to review after review.
