Champions Cup Team of the Week: Northampton Saints’ Lions hopefuls help deliver historic upset

By Charlie Elliott

The Champions Cup played host to two of the best semi-finals we have seen in the competition, as the two favourites were knocked out by unfancied opposition. 

Northampton Saints winning away in Dublin against Leinster was by far the biggest shock, with Phil Dowson’s side putting their poor Premiership form aside to produce a mammoth performance that saw them come away with a 37-34 win. 

Bordeaux-Begles knocked out the reigning champions, Toulouse, in relatively comfortable fashion after their visitors never really got going and fell to a 35-18 defeat. 

Both games saw some of the best players in the world battle it out, and here is Charlie Elliott’s Team of the Week to showcase those who performed best. 

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15 Romain Buros (Bordeaux Begles) 

One-time France international Buros had one of his most impressive performances in Bordeaux’s win against Toulouse, fronting up to everything that was thrown at him and not faltering on such a big occasion. 

Toulouse tested him a lot with kicks deep, but he remained calm and was a big threat off the returns. 

He broke the line and assisted Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s first try of the game, which pretty much sums up how good his running was in this game. 

Was the recipient of a huge hit from Rodrigue Neti. 

14 Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints) 

What an unbelievable winger, and someone who is hitting form at just the right time ahead of the British and Irish Lions selections. 

Freeman scored a hat-trick of tries in Saints’ historic win over Leinster and cemented himself as an elite winger on the world stage. 

His finishing is outstanding, and he showed that yet again. Not just a finisher, though, he is a powerful runner and is just such a good player in every facet of his game. 

There would be uproar if he weren’t selected to go on the plane. 

13 Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints) 

Both Dingwall and Rory Hutchinson were immense in the centres for Saints, and the latter may feel slightly hard done by not making this team. 

While Hutchinson had more individual moments, it was the intangible work that Dingwall really thrives on. 

He keeps things ticking and is like a glue that holds Saints’ backline together, and while that may sometimes go under the radar, it is crucial for the team. 

That is exactly how his game against Leinster went, just quietly went about his business and kept it running smoothly. 

Defensively, he really shone and didn’t give Leinster much of a sniff, impressive given the quality they had on the pitch. 

12 Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux Begles) 

Moefana played like a man possessed and showed a very well-rounded side to his game against Toulouse, having impact on both sides of the ball in a dominant performance against Pierre-Louis Barassi. 

Managed to force himself over the gainline on countless occasions with some intelligent and powerful running that terrorised the Toulouse defence. 

But he also did the defensive work brilliantly, disrupting play when he could and putting in some big hits. 

11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Begles) 

LBB is just an absolute joke of a player, and you would be hard pressed to find a better back three in the world than him, Buros and Damian Penaud. 

Easily one of the best wingers in the world right now, Bielle-Biarrey continued his impressive try-scoring run this season with a double against Toulouse. 

Both were finished very well out wide, with fast, direct running that has become a trademark of the young France star. 

Someone who never looks to feel pressure, Bielle-Biarrey, rose to the occasion and put in a huge performance. 

10 Fin Smith (Northampton Saints) 

Easily the hardest selection of this team was at fly-half, as Smith and Bordeaux’s Matthieu Jalibert were amazing for their respective teams. 

England starboy Smith gets in by virtue of it being a bigger shock that Saints won, and the potential Lions ramifications.

Performance-wise, the two both deserve a spot in this team, and it is harsh that Jalibert is left out. 

Smith showed his trademark composure beyond his years and dictated play extremely well, continuously making the right decisions when he had the ball. 

Ran a brilliant line and produced a deft kick for Freeman to run on to for the first try of the game, which started off the remarkable win for the Premiership champions. 

9 Maxime Lucu (Bordeaux Begles) 

Started off the game a bit tetchy and made a few errors to start, but grew into it and ended up producing a great performance for his team. 

His best moment was definitely nailing a penalty from inside his own half, during a time when the game could have gone either way. 

Lucu has stepped up a level this season and has been one of the stars in Bordeaux’s season so far. 

1 Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints) 

The weekend wasn’t inundated with stunning prop performances, but Iyogun was the best of the lot and left everything out on the field. 

Saints were solid in the scrum, with Iyogun also contributing around the field with plenty of tackles and carries on the ball. 

Managed to last the full 80, which is rare for a prop, but a credit to his resilience and durability. 

2 Maxime Lamothe (Bordeaux Begles) 

One of the star players from Bordeaux came from a relatively unlikely source, hooker Lamothe. 

Many expected Julien Marchand to get the better of him, but it was Lamothe who stole the show in the two-shirt. 

Kept the fundamentals solid with great throwing from the lineout, while also being a presence around the pitch with some huge carries and quality defending. 

Can be proud of this performance. 

3 Ben Tameifuna (Bordeaux Begles) 

Again, there wasn’t a lot to choose from at tighthead either, but Tameifuna was the best of the lot after his cameo off the bench helped secure Bordeaux’s victory. 

His side looked like they were under the cosh a bit physically when he came on, but he shifted the momentum at scrum time and relieved a lot of pressure from his fellow forwards. 

Capped off his performance with the final try of the game, which put the result beyond doubt and sent the Stade Matmut Atlantique into party mode. 

4 Alex Coles (Northampton Saints) 

Lock didn’t have a huge selection outside of the other player in this team, but Coles delivered a strong performance that far outshone the international star quality that Leinster had in the forwards. 

Conceded a couple of turnovers and got a yellow card at the end, which luckily didn’t cost his team, but apart from that was very good. 

His physicality on both sides of the ball ended up being one of the key reasons that Saints came out with the win. 

5 Cyril Cazeaux (Bordeaux Begles) 

Cazeaux defended in a similar fashion to Coles, in that they were both immense, but will be happier with his performance by virtue of not making any mistakes. 

Solid from the set piece and a workhorse, it was a case of doing the basics to an extremely high level, which was exactly what his team needed in such a huge game. 

6 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints) 

What an absolute joke of a talent Pollock is. 

Words cannot describe just how good he is, how confident he is and how much nothing seems to faze him. 

It was the biggest game of his career so far, and he just went about his business as if it were a walk in the park. 

Pollock topped the tackle count and made Leinster look amateur, with a try scored as well. 

His celebration was also one of the coldest seen in the sport. 

7 Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 

The only Leinster player that makes it in this squad, van der Flier, can hold his head high after some big carries and physical play. 

Looked like the player most likely to make something happen in his team, the flanker was heavily involved in Caelan Doris’ try with a beautiful feint that took out a couple of defenders. 

Tried and tried, but without the help of his teammates and the magic of Saints, it was always going to be a tough day. 

8 Juarno Augustus (Northampton Saints) 

Had tears in his eyes at the final whistle, knowing that he had the chance to end his Saints career with a trophy before joining Ulster next season. 

A performance that reflected the desire to have one last big impact, Augustus was immense and put in a huge shift. 

Plenty of tackles, but where he really showed his quality was on the ball, where he linked up well with the backs with some great offloads. 

His best moment came in the buildup to one of Freeman’s tries, when he offloaded brilliantly to start the attack. 

READ MORE: Northampton Saints stun Leinster in Champions Cup semi and sweep into final