The Investec Champions Cup, European rugby's premier club competition, is currently painted in the blue, white, and red of France. Last season's final saw Bordeaux claim a 28-20 victory over Northampton Saints, securing a remarkable fifth consecutive title for French Top 14 sides. This unprecedented streak, beginning in 2021, has firmly shifted the tournament's balance of power across the Channel.
A Shift in the European Landscape
There was a period, not so long ago, when Irish provinces ruled the roost. Between 2006 and 2012, Munster and Leinster shared five titles, with the competition's headquarters based in Dublin. Today, the landscape is radically different. The administrative base may now be in Switzerland, but the on-field supremacy is unequivocally French. The Challenge Cup has also followed a similar pattern, crossing the Channel three times in the same five-year period.
With the 2025 final scheduled for Bilbao in Spain's Basque Country—a mere 120 kilometres from the French border—the central question for this campaign is stark: can anyone disrupt the seemingly inevitable march towards a sixth French crown?
The Uphill Battle for Challengers
The task for non-French clubs appears daunting from the outset. The domestic form of many traditional European heavyweights is concerning. Leinster currently sit sixth in the United Rugby Championship (URC), while English Premiership sides like Saracens, Sale, Harlequins, and Gloucester languish in the bottom half of their table. Welsh region Scarlets are rooted to the foot of the URC.
This reality narrows the field of credible contenders to perhaps four or five teams from outside France. South Africa's DHL Stormers, leading the URC, alongside Leinster, Munster, Bath, and a potentially resurgent Saracens, are seen as the most likely candidates to challenge. Exeter Chiefs were the last non-French winners, beating Racing 92 back in 2020—a fact that underscores the length of the current French dynasty.
Success will hinge on these teams performing in hostile French environments. Take Bath, the English champions. Their campaign likely depends on securing a strong home win against Munster, followed by navigating daunting away trips to Toulon and Castres. A loss in Toulon could severely damage their hopes of topping Pool 2.
The Critical Importance of a Fast Start
The competition's format rewards those who begin strongly. Earning a top-four seeding, as Bordeaux and Northampton demonstrated last season, smooths the path to the latter stages. Finish in the top two, and a team can enjoy home-country advantage all the way to the semi-finals, provided they keep winning.
This places immense pressure on key opening fixtures. The Stormers cannot afford a slip-up in Bayonne. Northampton, last year's runners-up, have minimal room for error away to Pau and at home to the Bulls. Pau themselves are a fascinating prospect, having already beaten domestic giants Toulouse and Bordeaux this season, with former Exeter champion Joe Simmonds pulling the strings.
The pool stages will also be a significant test for Bristol Bears, who must prove their stylish game has the substance for this level against Pau, Bordeaux, Scarlets, and the Bulls. Meanwhile, a standout fixture looms in Round Three: Toulouse's visit to Saracens in January. The clash between Antoine Dupont and Owen Farrell, among others, will serve as a precise barometer of the gap between England's and France's elite.
Without a major twist in the tale, the quarter-final line-up could feature a familiar cast of French clubs and a handful of persistent challengers. For Leinster, whose last title was won in Bilbao over seven years ago, the mission to reclaim European glory grows more difficult with each passing season dominated by les grands chefs of the Top 14.
