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Toulouse v Union Bordeaux-Begles, we’ve been here before haven’t we.
The teams who occupied first and second in the Top 14 for most of the season will decide the French title and who takes home the Bouclier de Brennus at the Stade de France on Saturday in a repeat of the 2024 final.
Toulouse won that one, and boy how. France and Europe’s most successful side showed no mercy as they scored nine tries in a 59-3 victory.
It wrapped up a domestic and European double after they had beaten Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup final a few weeks earlier.
Much the same this year, then? Probably not.
JOINING THE EURO ELITE
UBB have shaken off last year’s final defeat and done so in style.
They won both Top 14 fixtures this season. A 16-12 victory in Toulouse in week four was a sign of their potential and they grew again after a 32-24 win at home in March.
Then came the Champions Cup semifinal and UBB’s day of revenge as they dethroned the holders with a 35-18 win.
Victory over Northampton Saints in the final was their final jump to the big time and confirmation that they can look Toulouse in the eye.
Best of all they will be facing Toulouse without Antoine Dupont, who has been out since March with ruptured knee ligaments.
And yet, and yet…this is Toulouse. A team with 23 Top 14 titles. A team stocked with excellence like no other.
BEST OF THE BEST
Look at their fullbacks. France’s Thomas Ramos competes with Argentina’s Juan Cruz Mallia, and Italy’s Ange Capuozzo for the number 15 jersey.
There are also concerns over UBB’s LBB, aka Louise Bielle Biarrey, who has scored 13 Top 14 tries but who is fighting to recover from a concussion.
That said they have Damien Penaud on the other wing with nine tries of his own. It just shows how stuffed each side is with talent.
Can Bordeaux’s Maxime Lucu show that he is more than just Dupont’s France understudy? Which flyhalf will dominate? Matthieu Jalibert or Romain Ntamack? Will Toulouse’s Dorian Aldegheri or UBB’s Ben Tameifuna boss the scrum?
The Top 14 Final rarely disappoints, and this one has the added twist of the new pretenders trying to upend the old order. Strap in.
Stade Toulousain Starting XV (1-15) Rodrigue Neti, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri, Joshua Brennan, Thibaud Flament, François Cros, Jack Willis, Anthony Jelonch, Paul Graou, Romain Ntamack, Blair Kinghorn, Santiago Chocobares, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Juan Cruz Mallia, Thomas Ramos
Stade Toulousain Replacements (16-23) Guillaume Cramont, Cyril Baille, Emmanuel Meafou, Leo Banos, Naoto Saito, Pita Ahki, Matthis Lebel, Joel Merkler
Union Bordeaux Bègles Starting XV (1-15) Jefferson Poirot, Maxime Lamothe, Ben Tameifuna, Guido Petti, Cyril Cazeaux, Marko Gazzotti, Pierre Bochaton, Pete Samu, Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Yoram Moefana, Nicolas Depoortere, Damian Penaud, Romain Buros
Union Bordeaux Bègles Replacements (16-23) Connor Sa, Matis Perchaud, Jonny Gray, Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, Arthur Retiere, Joey Carbery, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Sipili Falatea
