Every Investec Champions Cup pool is a massive challenge to win, and it becomes even more difficult when the defending champions and the runner-up land in the same pod.
Pool 4 has that scenario, but also — of the six teams in the field — four enter with legit championship aspirations, a fifth with enough talent to make at least the quarterfinals, and the sixth team plays in one of the world’s most passionate rugby countries.
Months ago, FloRugby deemed Pool 4 of the Investec Champions Cup the “Pool of Death,” and while that moniker could just as easily be applied to Pool 1, Pool 4 makes a strong case:
Defending champions Union Bordeaux-Bègles.Runner-up Northampton Saints.No. 2 on the Top 14 table, Section Paloise (Pau).United Rugby Championship runner-up and South African club power Vodacom Bulls.Louis Rees-Zammit, Ellis Genge, and Eagles fly-half A.J. MacGinty powering the Bristol Bears.The only Welsh club in the competition, the Scarlets.
This pool isn’t deadly because it has multiple championship contenders. It’s deadly because of the depth.
Bordeaux’s finals hangover included a devastating loss in the Top 14 Final in summer and an uneven start to the Top 14 season, where they stand at 6-0-5 and sixth on the table. But the club still has Damian Penaud (the No. 7-ranked player at FloRugby) and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, the No. 12-ranked player and one of the five best under-25 players in the world.
Speaking of youth: Henry Pollock, 20, is the No. 100-ranked player and already a budding star for England. He’s one of the Saints’ top players.
Louis Rees-Zammit is only 24 and one of the most globally recognized players because he tried his hand in the NFL for two seasons.
But it’s Pau that really makes the pool deep.
Argentina captain Julián Montoya joined the French side this offseason, but he’s missed so many matches that the success of the club’s season can’t be pinned to that one move. Pau is 8-0-3 this season in the Top 14 — the same record as Toulouse and just two points back from the league leaders.
Pau enters Champions Cup play winners of three straight, including a road win — hard to come by in the Top 14 — over UBB, 34-33, and a crushing demolition of La Rochelle in Round 11. Pau has also beaten Toulouse (30-26) and Bayonne (47-24) this year.
That’s quite the résumé. And yes, even Pau has young stars in Fabien Brau-Boirie (19), Théo Attissogbé (21), and Emilien Gailleton (22) powering the lineup.
Even the Scarlets — the 1-0-5 side from the URC and the least likely of the bunch to reach the knockout stage — enter the Champions Cup with massive momentum after a 23-0 win at home over the Glasgow Warriors.
A Glance at Each Investec Champions Cup Club in Pool 4Union Bordeaux-Bègles (6-0-5 in the Top 14, 6th)
Louis Bielle-Biarrey is one of the brightest young stars in the game and was a finalist for World Rugby Player of the Year. Had France beaten South Africa, maybe the 22-year-old would have won it.
Pau (8-0-3 in the Top 14, 2nd)
Pau was promoted to the Top 14 in 2015 and has stuck in the top league ever since, but the club has yet to see true success in the Champions Cup. They haven’t won the Top 14 since 1964 and haven’t won a European competition since 2000, when they won the EPCR Challenge Cup. They finished second on the Top 14 table to qualify for the ICC this season.
Northampton Saints (4-1-1 in Gallagher PREM, 2nd)
The Saints are one of the favorites to win the PREM this season, which would be their second title in three seasons. And while last season’s domestic campaign was disappointing, the Saints’ ICC run made up for it. They pulled off one of the biggest upsets in rugby when they beat arguably the best club team to never win the Champions Cup — last season’s Leinster side — in Dublin.
Bristol Bears (4-0-2 in Gallagher PREM, 5th)
The Bears are just outside the playoff picture and two points behind the Leicester Tigers for the fourth spot. They are led by a player who might actually be part bear — Ellis Genge, the 6-foot-1, 256-pound, 30-year-old prop who grew up in Bristol and returned to his hometown after helping the Tigers win the PREM.
Vodacom Bulls (3-0-3 in the URC, 8th)
Doubt the Bulls at your own peril. The Pretoria, South Africa, club is one of the most consistently good teams in the world. They won three Super Rugby titles and have reached three URC Finals since 2022, including 2025. The Bulls should be on the shortlist of Champions Cup favorites every year with the likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cameron Hanekom and perhaps the game’s best kicker, Handré Pollard. Their uneven URC slate is likely a byproduct of the Springboks’ international schedule.
Scarlets (1-0-5 in the URC, 16th)
Not often does a team sitting at the bottom of its domestic league also play in the Champions Cup, but here we are. And while the Scarlets are the biggest underdogs — both by betting standards and by vibes — the Champions Cup is better with Welsh clubs involved.
Despite the Final being in Cardiff last season, no Welsh club made the ICC field. But that changes this season. This pool has also gone full Welsh: not only are the Scarlets here, but Louis Rees-Zammit of the Bears is perhaps the best Welsh player in the world.
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Investec Champions Cup Pool 4Round 1 Saturday, Dec. 6 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Vodacom Bulls vs. Bordeaux-Bègles, Loftus VersfeldSaturday, Dec. 6 – 3 p.m. ET: Scarlets vs. Bristol Bears, Parc y ScarletsSunday, Dec. 7 – 8 a.m. ET: Pau vs. Northampton Saints, Stade du HameauRound 2Saturday, Dec. 13 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Bordeaux-Bègles vs. Scarlets, Stade Chaban-DelmasSunday, Dec. 14 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Northampton Saints vs. Vodacom Bulls, cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s GardensSunday, Dec. 14 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Bristol Bears vs. Pau, Ashton GateRound 3 Saturday, Jan. 10 – 8 a.m. ET: Vodacom Bulls vs. Bristol Bears, Loftus VersfeldSaturday, Jan. 10 – 3 p.m. ET: Scarlets vs. Pau, Parc y ScarletsSunday, Jan. 11 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Bordeaux-Bègles vs. Northampton Saints, Stade Chaban-DelmasRound 4Friday, Jan. 16 – 3 p.m. ET: Pau vs. Vodacom Bulls, Stade du HameauSunday, Jan. 18 – 8 a.m. ET: Bristol Bears vs. Bordeaux-Bègles, Ashton GateSunday, Jan. 18 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Northampton Saints vs. Scarlets, cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s GardensWatch Vodacom Bulls vs. Bordeaux Free Stream On FloRugby YouTube
Watch Scarlets vs. Bristol Bears Free Stream On FloRugby YouTube
Watch Pau vs. Northampton Saints Free Stream On FloRugby YouTube
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