Northampton Saints vs Bordeaux Begles Prediction: Saints can march on to European glory

The thrills and spills of the European Rugby Champions Cup have brought us to the final on Saturday (14:45, BBC iPlayer) as Northampton Saints prepare to clash with Bordeaux Begles at the Principality Stadium.

Alex Jack provides his best bets in his Northampton Saints vs Bordeaux Begles prediction piece, as well as all the essential team news and match odds for the final in Cardiff.

Rugby Union Odds

Team News

Northampton go with Emmanuel Iyogun, Curtis Langdon and Trevor Davison in the front row and Temo Mayanavanua and Tom Lockett the two locks.

Alex Coles, Josh Kemeny and Henry Pollock make up the back row, with the England pair of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith in the half-backs.

Rory Hutchinson and skipper Fraser Dingwall start in the centres, while George Furbank returns from injury to start in a back three that includes James Ramm and Tommy Freeman.

As for Bordeaux, they start with Jefferson Poirot, Clement Maynadier and Ben Tameifuna in the front row, with Kane Douglas and Guido Petti in the engine room.

Cameron Woki, Mohamed Haouas and Tevita Tatafu start in the back row, with Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert in the half-backs.

Ugo Boniface and Yoram Moefana start in the centres, while Bordeaux boast a frightening back three of Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud and Romain Buros.

Northampton Saints vs Bordeaux Begles Odds

Northampton find themselves as the 23/10 underdogs to win the final in regular time, while Bordeaux are the 4/11 favourites.

A draw to take the match into extra-time is 20/1, while Northampton to be leading at half-time is currently 17/10.

Northampton Saints to win @ 23/10

Given the attacking talent on show, Saturday’s game could be an all-time classic between two dangerous sides who fully deserve their places in the final.

Northampton had to beat practically the Ireland Test side in Dublin in the semi-finals as they stunned Leinster 37-34 at the Aviva Stadium.

Now Saints boss Phil Dowson will have to plot a way for his side to essentially beat the French national team, with so many Test players starting for Bordeaux this weekend.

The battle between Smith and Jalibert will be key at fly-half and such has been the way the England stand-off has been playing, he could hold the edge in this head-to-head.

With Mitchell and Smith the organisers and making sure Northampton play in the right areas of the pitch, and with the likes of Pollock and Freeman capable of moments of magic, Saints might just have enough to beat a Bordeaux side who have been inconsistent on the road, with three defeats in their last five away games.

Double Result - Northampton Saints-Northampton Saints @ 10/3

Saints’ calling card in the Champions Cup this season has been their fast starts.

Putting 27 points past both Leinster and Clermont in the first half of those respective games, Northampton also scored 20 points in the opening 40 minutes against Castres.

Expect Northampton to come out of the traps quickly again on Saturday in Cardiff and they are good value to be leading at both the half-time and full-time whistles at the Principality.

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