LONG READ How Bordeaux-Begles showed Bath the true meaning of 'superclub' in the Champions Cup

When the court comes to order and the judge’s gavel strikes the sounding block, there are only two winners. Despite all the objections raised by England, the game in the northern hemisphere belongs to Ireland and France. Between them, the two nations have won the past five Six Nations and provided seven of the past eight finalists in the Investec Champions Cup.

If that is not a duopoly, it is pretty close to it. The prevailing order of things has only been confirmed by the finals of the two EPCR competitions in 2026: the Challenge Cup will be contested by Ulster of the URC and the Top 14’s Montpellier Hérault, while the Champions Cup will be disputed by four-time winners Leinster and current champions Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

The two English clubs who have threatened to break the Franco-Irish stranglehold, Northampton and Bath, lack the pure purchasing power of European giants such as UBB, Toulouse, La Rochelle and Leinster. The total potential spending cap, including RFU credits, in England is around €9m for the top clubs, but for the likes of Toulouse and Leinster it is somewhere between €11-14m.

The disparity has excited a fair bit of envy and resentment from the English side of the Irish sea. An article in the Daily Telegraph, published only two days before the semi-final between Leinster and Northampton in last year’s Champions Cup, painted the picture of a very uneven playing field.

It suggested the Leinster playing budget might be as much as €17m. That is unlikely, but there is still a significant difference between the stability and financial reach of the Franco-Irish model and the Prem in England. Top 14 playing budgets are funded by a huge advantage in media rights worth €114m in 2026-2027, compared to €47m in the Prem. The differences are only likely to widen with time, and they are forecast to be as much as €82m by 2027-28.

Meanwhile the IRFU is integrated in the funding of player contracts at its provinces in a way the RFU never has been. Individual salaries may be as much as 30% lower than their equivalent in Top 14, with roughly €40m coming from IRFU contributions to the four provinces, but they are supported by add-ons like ‘sportspersons tax relief’, a 40% tax refund which applies to athletes who spend 10 years or more of their career in Ireland.

Bath’s current co-owners Bruce Craig and Sir James Dyson would enjoy a better return on their investment in either France or Ireland. They would see more immediate improvement with the sharp budgetary uplift in France, but the security and integration of the Irish system might prove a stronger attraction in the long term. In terms of their evident ambition to turn Bath into a European powerhouse, both leagues would be a better bet than the Prem.

Even the supreme sangfroid of Leinster director of rugby Leo Cullen has been ruffled by suggestions the province is somehow gaming the system, when it is more obviously the case the system in Ireland is a lot better than it is England. In response to the Telegraph piece he opined: “It is wild. That’s miles off. Unfortunately, people can write whatever they want. As we know, the system here is a little more complex than in other countries but we don’t have a published salary cap.

“I’ve seen some of those figures and they’re just not accurate. How do you correct people who write things that aren’t true in the current media?”

Wind the clock on one year later, and he found himself in much the same position – defending his club even after they had seen off fellow European heavyweights Toulon at the semi-final stage of the competition.

“We were sitting in this room this time last year [when we lost]. We were in that situation and we were throwing everything at Northampton.

“Pollock gets a poach – it should have been a penalty. Like I said, it’s clearly illegal – but nobody talked about it after. Just wanted to kick the boot into us, don’t you? But that’s the way it goes.

“It’s not easy when you’re up against these juggernaut teams.

“This is the first time we’ve ever beaten Toulon. You know, because that goes back to the period where they were signing global superstars. That’s the firepower they have.

“You guys love throwing the boot into us when things don’t go well. Well, listen, whatever sells, obviously, because you read plenty of it.”

If you want to be a winner in European club rugby, you need to be a juggernaut, on and off the field. Once the leviathan starts to roll the national team will thrive, whether it is Ireland with Leinster or France on the back of the success achieved by Toulouse and La Rochelle and more latterly Bordeaux. If Thomas Ramos misses with the last kick of the tournament, Ireland wins the 2026 Six Nations; if he gets it, Les Bleus hoist the trophy. No apologies necessary, Leo.

The second semi-final between UBB and Bath told the tale more eloquently than any words. The West Countrymen are probably the best-funded club in the Prem, but neither they nor Northampton have achieved superclub status in Europe. At least, not yet.

Johann van Graan’s charges entered the game with a similar plan to Toulouse in the quarter-final against the same opponents: control the ball, and starve the likes of Damian Penaud, Matthieu Jalibert and Louis Bielle-Biarrey into slow and suffocating submission. Bath won the lion’s share of the contestable kicking duels, they built twice the number of rucks [123 to 58 by UBB] and enjoyed five more minutes in possession of the ball [21 to 16]. They carried on 51 more occasions than Les Girondins and forced them to make 100 more tackles in the game [191 to 91].

So far, so good. Probe a little deeper, and the statistical balance starts to favour the hosts. L’Union completed 91% of their tackles, won the battle of the line-breaks by 10 to five, and achieved more from their total entries into the opposition 22 – 3.2 points per visit compared to 2.4 by Bath. The foundation reality of the game in numbers can be seen via the following comparison.

Two tries and three penalty advantages in 73 red zone phases is a poor return for your efforts. Too much energy expended for too little reward. Contrast that with UBB’s attacking efficiency from set-piece.

UBB’s stats are based on situations beyond five-metre lineouts, and this is where Bordeaux won the game. As ex-Bath and England wing Anthony Watson observed cogently in the Premier Sports commentary: “I look at how hard Bath had to work for their tries, whereas UBB in that first 20 minutes scored 14 points with very little effort. That came from Bath and [their lack of] defence.”

At least from set-piece, Bath did not make UBB work hard for their scores, and the mood was set in only the second minute of the game.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 4, 2026

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 4, 2026

The attacking movement to the open side of the field is quite straightforward, with Bath forwards able to make two of the first three tackles until play hits the right side-line. It is at this point [in the screenshot] Van Graan’s men make a basic system error which costs them a try.

Scrum-half Ben Spencer [at the top of the shot] picks this moment to run towards the back of the next ruck as play bounces in off the right sideline; and Henry Arundell [at the bottom of the picture] is much too far away to help if UBB move the ball back quickly to their left. Simple hands are enough create a break for Penaud, and try for number eight Marko Gazzotti on the following phase. It should not be that easy.

The second try from lineout was no more complicated.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 4, 2026

Once again, the theme is the same: straightforward movement across the open side of the field, with Bath forwards making two of the first three tackles. Now freeze-frame the situation at 1:24 on the gameclock: the remaining backs on the Bath right [12 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Arundell and 15 Santi Carreras] are all aligned ‘off’ only five metres out from their own goalline. There is nothing to stop the UBB backs making three simple passes to create a score for Bielle-Biarrey in the left corner. No interference, no pressure. It should not be that easy.

The final example comes from a 35^th-minute scrum.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 4, 2026

The ease with which that break down the Bath short side is achieved is best explained by a view of the set-up by the backs before the scrum is set.

UBB sets up with two backs on the blind, with Gazzotti and number nine Maxime Lucu potentially adding to that side, and only one Bath defender [11 Will Muir] in opposition. Even though Spencer jumps around as scrum develops, a playmaker as sharp as Jalibert will always find a away to exploit the overload. It should not be that easy.

In a hypothetical world, if Craig Dyson were given the chance of moving their club into the Top 14 or the URC, which option would they choose? Probably, they would shift lock, stock and two smoking barrels to Top 14, but either France or Ireland would offer more bang in return for their very considerable bucks than the Prem. It is the fault of neither that their administrative systems are developing to service the needs of club and country better than their counterparts in England. While England keeps putting the boot in, France and Ireland bag the silverware. Go figure.