Charlie Elliott: Best head-to-head matchups in the European Finals

The Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals will both take place this weekend in Cardiff, providing an opportunity to determine the European champions. 

Both will see Premiership and Top 14 opponents pitted against each other, with Northampton Saints v Bordeaux Begles in the Champions and Bath v Lyon in the Challenge. 

All four teams are deserved finalists and have seen off some of the best talent in Europe on the way to this stage. 

Northampton and Bordeaux especially had to beat Leinster and Toulouse in their semi-finals, which came as a big shock to many neutral fans. 

Here are some of the best matchups to look out for in both of the games. 

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Fin Smith v Matthieu Jalibert 

Fly-half is seen as arguably the most important position on the pitch, so it is no surprise that these two are a couple of the best players for their respective teams. 

Smith has burst onto the scene this season and was recently called up for the British and Irish Lions, while Jalibert featured heavily for France in the Six Nations following Romain Ntamack’s suspension. 

Jalibert shares goalkicking duties with scrum-half Maxime Lucu and is more than capable from the tee, in a similar fashion to Smith. 

They are both outstanding playmakers who can dictate a game on their own, and whoever comes out on top in this will massively help their team out. 

George Furbank v Romain Buros 

Everyone expected Furbank to miss this game or at least be on the bench, but he starts at fullback following a swift recovery from injury. 

He will be up against Buros, a composed and reliable fullback who is solid in the air. 

Furbank is better with the ball in hand and is a good counter-attacker when receiving the ball from deep. 

It will be interesting to see if Furbank changes his play at all with it being a final, as his counter-attacking play is direct and potentially risky at times, even if it usually works out. 

Perhaps Buros may be suited to a cagier game that a final could end up producing. 

Either way, Furbank is a great addition back into the squad and will be a big boost to Phil Dowson’s side. 

Tommy Freeman v Louis Bielle-Biarrey 

This matchup writes itself. Two of the most exciting young wingers in world rugby will go toe-to-toe with each other. 

Freeman is a bulkier player out wide, able to shrug off defenders and be more reliable in the air, while Bielle-Biarrey is pure speed and try-scoring ability. 

A hat-trick against Leinster in the semi-final shows that Freeman isn’t averse to scoring himself, though. 

If both teams can spread play wide to their respective wingers, magic is almost certainly going to happen.  

With James Ramm and Damian Penaud on the other wing, and Ollie Sleightholme on the bench, there could be a lot of action out wide. 

Henry Pollock v Pete Samu 

Given that the other three matchups have been backs, it is only right to have a battle between two forwards as the last one.  

After all, you can have the best backs in the world, but if you lose the forwards battle, you almost always struggle to get results. 

Pollock is arguably the most exciting youngster in the world right now, with a Lions call-up topping off what has been a meteoric rise this season. 

Confident, unreal at rugby and a great personality, so far, he has taken everything in his stride and doesn’t look fazed at all. 

He will be up against experienced Wallaby Pete Samu, who is returning to his native Australia next season with the NSW Waratahs. 

Samu has been a crucial player in Bordeaux’s success, linking the forwards and backs superbly and being a perfect number eight to keep play ticking. 

Given that he is now 33  years old, he won’t want to see himself outplayed by a 20-year-old. 

Tom de Glanville v Davit Niniashvili 

Georgian superstar Niniashvili is the danger man for Lyon, and if he is stopped, it is likely their attack will struggle. 

He is absolutely rapid, can break lines for fun and is extremely agile, which is perfect for a fullback who often receives the ball in deep positions. 

Tom de Glanville is more of an aerial option, being slightly taller than his opposing number. 

While he is perceived as less of an exciting player, de Glanville is a big part behind Bath’s success this season and is one of their biggest attacking threats. 

It will be good to see if he can keep Niniashvili quiet, though. 

Ben Spencer v Baptiste Couilloud 

French rugby often sees scrum-half as the more important and involved of the two half-back positions, in contrast to England‘s approach, which often uses the fly-half more. 

Couilloud is expected to see a lot of the ball as a result and is a well-rounded player who does the basics to a very high level. 

Spencer and Couilloud also represent the two captains, so they will want to lead from the front and put out a real statement early doors that they mean business. 

Both have been around for a while and are well into their prime, with this game providing a huge opportunity to win some silverware. 

For Bath, it could be the second trophy in a potentially treble-winning season.