Northampton player ratings v Bordeaux: ‘Powerful’ Alex Coles effort not enough as ‘Hurricane Henry’ blows itself out and Fin Smith ‘eclipsed’

Lawrence Nolan
Add as a preferred source on Google
Northampton Champions Cup

Northampton players look on after full-time in Cardiff, including James Ramm on crutches

Saints’ hopes of winning their first Investec Champions Cup title in 25 years were frustratingly dashed 20-28 in a gripping final against Bordeaux in Cardiff. Here is how we rated Phil Dowson’s brave charges.

Northampton player ratings

15 George Furbank: His first appearance in six weeks cruelly lasted less than five minutes as he was stretchered off after taking an accidental knee to the head from opposite number Romain Buros. N/A

14 Tommy Freeman: One of Saints’ four-strong British and Irish Lions contingent, he endured a troubled first half after switching to full-back. Defensively exposed, biting in for the first try concession and then getting yellow-carded for tackling Damian Penaud in the air just before the break. Better in the second period, his 53rd-minute catch in the air being one of his bright moments. 5

13 Fraser Dingwall: A tricky outing for the skipper as referee Nika Amashukeli was out of his depth with so much going on. The midfielder’s diplomacy was tested but it didn’t hurt his level of performance. 6

“Smith was eclipsed by Jalibert’s contribution…”

12 Rory Hutchinson: Looked the part when recently stepping into a Northampton midfield without the injured Burger Odendaal and he continued that impression in this final with a composed effort. An example of the smart fight he fought was the nifty 17th-minute kick to touch. 6

11 James Ramm: Full-back in the semi-final win over Leinster, he lasted just three minutes here because of injury. N/A

Damian Penaud crowned European Player of the Year after staggering try record

10 Fin Smith: The review of this final will be a frustrating experience for the talented fly-half whose contribution was eclipsed by what Mathieu Jalibert produced for Bordeaux. Just couldn’t establish a dominating flow in his game, annoyance not helped by decisions such as the ref wrongly calling a 13th minute knock-on against him and then getting penalised for sealing off 15 minutes later. 6

9 Alex Mitchell: Was explosive when helping Northampton into their early lead but Maxime Lucu, his French rival, was by far the more effective scum-half in the exchanges that followed. Unable to prevent Penaud from grounding for his late first-half try and the penalty he conceded when tackling the same player in the 76th minute meant the game was up for a team trying to close a two-score gap. 5

Planet Rugby player ratings key 10 - Career defining performance 9 - Outright blockbuster effort 8 - Significantly influenced the result of the game 7 - Committed and effective outing 6 - Flashes of brilliance outside of executing fundamentals 5 - Fulfilling the role required by position (base level) 4 - Poor execution of fundamentals 3 - Costly errors and/or discipline in the game 2 - Poor performance that directly impacted the result 1 - Grossly ineffective throughout 0 - Should have carried water instead

8 Henry Pollock: It was always going to come, an afternoon when Hurricane Henry would blow itself out. He was largely anonymous in the first half and then annoyingly had a well-worked try chalked off shortly after the restart for an illegal block by a teammate. His head commendably never went down – see how he won a super turnover later in his 22 – but Bordeaux had him worked out. 5 

7 Josh Kemeny: The Australian has proven to be an excellent Franklin’s Garden recruit this season, and he didn’t take a backward step against a better-connected Bordeaux back-row combination. His invaluable defiance was best seen in the directness of the 25th-minute carry that earned penalty points for his team. 7

6 Alex Coles: Fears that the knock he was carrying coming into this could curb his durability were unfounded as he produced a powerful two-try display that on another day would have left him a very deserving title winner. Touched down gleefully at either end of the first half but will rue his unnecessary obstruction on Ben Tameifuna which scrubbed Pollock’s early second-half score. Defiant to the end, winning a lineout turnover late on. 8

Bordeaux-Begles end wait for Champions Cup glory with vintage win over Northampton Saints

5 Tom Lockett: An unheralded part of the Saints squad, he brilliantly himself about the place across his 61 minutes and was very effective. See the fantastic try-stopping grip he secured on Maxime Lamothe in the 50th minute. It was like the famed Antoine Dupont Test-level stop on Mack Hansen a few years ago. 7

4 Temo Mayanavanua: A bench choice in last year’s Premiership final win over Bath, the Fijian wasn’t noticed here until the 30th-minute yellow-carded contact he received from Mahamadou Diaby. The ensuing HIA ended his contribution. 5

3 Trevor Davison: Exited on 60 minutes feeling very pleased with his display. A very decent scrum anchor, he had positive impacts elsewhere such as an early first-half stop on Pete Samu near the line and the penalty turnover win that gave Saints territory for the game-levelling try before the break. 6

2 Curtis Langdon: The injury doubt doggedly toughed it out for 61 minutes before a 12-minute rest was followed by a return in place of Craig Wright to see out the game. Ran a smooth lineout and hit an ample number of breakdowns but his best moment was cajoling the ref to review the second-half maul try awarded to Lamothe as he was rightly convinced it was a knock-on. 6

1 Emmanuel Iyogun: All went swingingly well until a 59th-minute penalty collapse on Saints’ scrum put-in at crucial time when eight points down. Relieved it didn’t cost his team points and he showcased his inspiring grit some minutes later when part of the front row nudge that won a set-piece penalty on its own line – a fine way to end his exhausting 66 minutes. 6

Replacements: Dowson resisted the temptation to go with an extra forward, sticking with a five/three bench split instead of six/two, and it was vindicated less than five minutes in with Ollie Sleightholme and Tom Litchfield both called into the action due to injuries.  

Sleightholme (7) gave the assist for Coles’ second try and the busy winger was unfortunate not to stop Cyril Cazeaux grounding for the crucial 56th-minute try. Litchfield (6), meanwhile, had a fine moment when winning a 30th-minute turnover and the sub back even scrummed down when Saints were short a forward after rookie pick Ed Prowse (4) blotted his copy with a yellow-carded shoulder to the head of Yoram Moefana.

Elsewhere, a shout-out must be given to the penalty-winning impact the energetic Elliot Millar-Mills (6) and Tarek Haffar (6) had at the scrum in the closing period. Angus Scott-Young (5) tried hard, but injury curtailed Craig Wright’s cameo (no rating) and Tom James (no rating) was a token late, late introduction.

READ MORE: Five takeaways as half-backs put on ‘rugby connoisseurs dream’ in Cardiff

Editor's Picks Alex Mitchell Fin Smith Henry Pollock Tommy Freeman

Related Articles