THE BIG DAY is upon us. The 24th Heineken Champions Cup final is down for decision and the best two teams in Europe will tear lumps off one another for the right to lift the trophy.
From 5pm Saturday evening we’ll see whether England can claim a ninth European title via a third for Saracens. Or whether Leinster will become the most successful side in the tournament’s history by taking a fifth crown, in what would be an eighth success for Ireland.
Before we completely pack down for action, here’s a reminder of how these two brilliant sides got to the big stage in Newcastle’s St James’ Park.
Out of the blocks
Opening night saw Leinster begin their title defence. And they looked every bit a champion side as they made short work of Wasps thanks to an early burst from Sean Cronin and a cracker from James Lowe.
Saracens had their toughest task of the pool stage first up, a trip north to Glasgow. The Warriors were more than willing, but just unable to break open the English champions during a 3-13 loss.
The one time Glasgow did think they had cracked the code, Maro Itoje joined in the celebrations.
Maro Itoje troll level = 💯
— Watch the Champions Cup final live on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) October 14, 2018
• Glasgow steal the ball
• Ref blows for penalty
• Glasgow players don't hear whistle, score try, celebrate wildly...
• Maro Itoje joins in! pic.twitter.com/ULOkgYcLga
Round two
French opposition for both sides, but Saracens romped to victory over Lyon after Itoje romped over the try-line from 50 metres out. Ridiculous stuff for a lock to be at.
The following day, Leinster and Toulouse played out one of the games of the year, and lost in Europe for the first (and still only) time since the 2017 semi-final defeat to Clermont.
Toulouse were back playing champagne rugby and it was glorious to watch (from 2.20 in the video below).
December back-to-backs
December can often be about digging your way out of a hole and Leinster certainly battled their way to ‘win ugly’ in Bath thanks to a Jordan Larmour intercept before they casually carved through the same opponents a week later at the Aviva.
Similarly enough, though the home and away matches were the other way around, Sarries had to hold their nerve while being run close by the Blues in Cardiff – Jamie George’s late try sealed a 16-26 win. A week earlier, the Blues had been swatted aside in a 7-try 51-25 loss.
Closing out the pool
Leinster took control of the pool by offering Toulouse a signal of what was to come in their later meeting in the competition, Dave Kearney’s athleticism helped the province to a 29-13 bonus point win.
Still watching it 🙌
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) January 13, 2019
What a finish 👏@kearney_dave #LEIvTOU#JoinTheRoar pic.twitter.com/UWObf4kPRI
Meanwhile, Saracens’ march to the knockouts was confirmed thanks to the power and footwork of Nick Tompkins. They sealed a bonus point with 20 minutes to spare away to Lyon and the hosts were restricted to just three points before the 70th minute mark.
Qualification secured, Saracens could afford to let their hair down for round six.
Unfortunately for Glasgow, they seemed to only succeed in poking the bear by scoring three tries in the opening 21 minutes. And so their 17-19 lead led to a 38-19 defeat.
Leinster ended the pool stage in the Ricoh Arena and made it a rare happy hunting ground for recent Irish sides, with Max Deegan, Rory O’Loughlin and Noel Reid combining for a gem of a try to ice the cake.
Familiar opponents for the quarters
As if twice wasn’t enough, Glasgow were thrown in to face Saracens a third time.
In the knockout version of the rivalry, Dave Rennie’s men managed to put 27 points on the board. Saracens cranked up the intensity again, though, and scored seven tries to continue their winning streak.
Leinster were heavy favourites at home to their neighbours to the north, but amid an immense Ulster effort a rare blip in the meteoric rise of Jacob Stockdale came as a massive let-off for the champions.
Of course, you make your own luck too. And Ross Byrne had to play through the pain barrier before slotting a nerveless late winner.
Semi-final showdowns
Saracens were met head-on by Munster in Coventry and the match was developing nicely into a tense and tight arm-wrestle… right up until the point Michael Rhodes broke through in the third minute of the second half.
Billy Vunipola was jeered throughout for his support of Israel Folau, but after he sealed the win with a late try, one Munster fan literally crossed the line when delivering his own points of view.
Jonathan Sexton pulled on the Leinster jersey for the first time in 2019 as Toulouse arrived at the Aviva for the semi-final.
With Lowe again in rampant form, the reigning champions were an irresistible force as they earned their fifth Champions Cup final appearance.
Something has got to give.
Gavan Casey, Murray Kinsella and Bernard Jackman tee up Saturday’s Champions Cup final and look at the backroom problems in Munster.:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
