{"id":545900,"date":"2026-04-23T05:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/545900\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:27:11","slug":"can-bath-achieve-one-of-english-rugbys-greatest-days-against-the-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/545900\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Bath achieve one of English rugby\u2019s greatest days against the French?"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 27, 1971, was a typical Saturday for London Welsh RFC. In a year that would bring a grand slam for Wales and seven exiles in the British & Irish Lions squad, they travelled to Neath and won 14-9 at The Gnoll. They caught the train back to Paddington, stayed in a nearby hotel, and were up early to fly to Paris to participate in a gala match at the opening of a stadium in Saint-Denis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The players didn\u2019t overindulge at the pre-match luncheon \u2014 it didn\u2019t escape them that their opponents appeared not to have been invited to gaze upon bottles of wine \u2014 and then learnt why Grand B\u00e9ziers<\/a> had such a fierce reputation. A punch in the first scrum set the theme for the day. Mervyn Davies rated it as one of the fixtures that shattered him most. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe game was a disgrace and typical of many French club games,\u201d JPR Williams<\/a> wrote in his autobiography. \u201cWe were kicked and punched all over the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe great B\u00e9ziers team of the early Seventies were renowned for their brutality \u2014 something London Welsh learnt<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, London Welsh won 12-8, aided by a memorable try from the sprinter Terry Davies. It was a Five Nations weekend \u2014 England drew 14-14 with France at Twickenham \u2014 but Wales had the round off and so their stars were available for the meeting of London Welsh, unofficially the best team in the UK, and B\u00e9ziers, about to begin a 15-year reign of terror as the best in France.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Investec Champions Cup semi-final between Bordeaux B\u00e8gles<\/a> and Bath, a week on Sunday, is similar in stature to that 1971 fixture. It brings to mind the Cup Winners\u2019 Match and Match of Champions of May 1935: rugby league games in Paris and Bordeaux \u2014 Castleford versus Lyon Villeurbanne in one, Swinton against Villeneuve in the other \u2014 in the spirit of elite fraternity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bath are the English champions and keen on keeping it that way. Bordeaux are European champions and French runners-up, with ambitions to topple Toulouse in the Top 14. The semi-final at the 42,100-capacity Stade Atlantique sold out in hours, demonstrating the appetite on both sides of the channel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BathBen Spencer, the Bath scrum half, takes the acclaim after his side inched past Northampton Saints 43-41 in a remarkable quarter-final at The Rec Simon King\/ProSports\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

After the intranational collision of Bordeaux and Toulouse in the quarter-finals, the anticipation for an elite Anglo-French semi-final is high. Bath have the challenge of being the visitors, though it is a return to the city of their greatest European day and the 1998 Heineken Cup final: a 19-18 victory over Brive at what is now Stade Chaban-Delmas. To reach the 2026 final in Bilbao, they have to strike at the core of what defines greatness in this competition: winning away from home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In just over 30 years of this competition, there have been more than 120 away wins in Anglo-French clashes. Many are not immediately recalled \u2014 Brive\u2019s victory over Wasps at Loftus Road in 1997, Northampton Saints in Agen in 2004, Gloucester in Bourgoin in 2007 \u2014 though they are all little triumphs. The ones that linger are at the business end.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After 103 years of informality, continental competition began in 1995. Leicester Tigers were the first to go to France and win, and their 19-14 victory in Pau in October 1996 straddled eras. The tenor of the 1971 game remained in the form of an eye-gouging row. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe violent precedent set for British-French clashes is expected to be continued when Harlequins take on Brive in front of 15,000 French fans today,\u201d The Sunday Times reported. Leicester, the English runners-up to Bath the previous season, drew Toulouse, the French champions, in the semi-final and destroyed them 37-11, but lost to Brive in the final.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bath are in a different position to 20 years ago, when they last reached this stage of the competition. Then, they were in a relegation battle. Biarritz Olympique, who were in the process of successfully defending their French title, had seen off Sale Sharks, the best team in England, in San Sebasti\u00e1n and fumbled past Bath too at the same venue. Again, there was bad blood and an eye-gouge accusation.<\/p>\n

\"TOPSHOT-RUGBYU-EUR-BORDEAUX-LEICESTER\"Bordeaux prop Ben Tameifuna makes light work of Leicester, with the French club winning 64-14 at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in the round of 16ROMAIN PERROCHEAU\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cBiarritz have made it to the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff, and the French champions did it by the normal, bizarre and completely soulless route of apparently doing the absolute minimum, of playing as if treading in treacle rather than using some of the sheer rugby talent in their team,\u201d Stephen Jones wrote in The Sunday Times. The Bordeaux of 2026 are unlikely to tread in treacle. <\/p>\n

As Biarritz\u2019s run showed, there are two ways to produce intriguing knockout ties: the thrill of an underdog, or the meeting of elite minds. The 2007 quarter-finals provided both: Leicester and Stade Fran\u00e7ais, who both ended the campaign as national champions, faced off at Welford Road and the home side won 21-20. Back in San Sebasti\u00e1n, Biarritz lost 7-6 at home to Northampton. Unlike Bath, Saints actually did get relegated shortly after that match.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instinct dictates that we look to knockout rounds for the great Anglo-French ties, but the cream has been known to meet in the pool stage: Leicester and Clermont in December 2009, and the visiting side\u2019s mad dash for losing bonus points in a heap of bodies at Stade Marcel-Michelin; Leicester, again, with Perpignan the following year; Harlequins and Toulouse, both winning away, in December 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nine of this competition\u2019s finals have been Anglo-French, most recently Bordeaux\u2019s win over Northampton 11 months ago<\/a>. By their status alone, these matches have to be in the picture. Saracens were bullied by Toulon in 2014, but saw off Racing 92 in Lyon in 2016, in a final even a mother would struggle to love. The 46-6 stuffing of Clermont in the semi-final before Toulon, or Marcelo Bosch\u2019s monster penalty in Colombes in 2015, were memorable too. <\/p>\n

However you categorise the history, victory for Bath a week on Sunday would be one of the competition\u2019s greatest achievements. Straight into the top five for English teams. Leicester, Gloucester and Harlequins have won in Bordeaux in recent years, but this UBB side have evolved significantly.<\/p>\n

When Rosslyn Park travelled to Paris to take on Stade Fran\u00e7ais in 1892, a Reuters telegram reported that \u201cthe greatest good feeling was manifested throughout\u201d. For many, especially if there is no skin in the game, such is the feeling once more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

English rugby\u2019s greatest European days against the French<\/p>\n

(5) 2024 quarter-final: Bordeaux 41 Harlequins 42<\/p>\n

Bordeaux had just wiped the floor with Saracens and now it was Harlequins\u2019 turn to act as fodder. This was a Quins side who believed, though, after their Premiership title in 2021, with Marcus Smith and Andr\u00e9 Esterhuizen in midfield, and Fin Baxter and Will Collier dominant up front. Maxime Lucu had a late kick to win it, but he missed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(4) 2007 quarter-final: Biarritz Olympique 6 Northampton Saints 7<\/p>\n

This was how Jeremy Guscott previewed the quarter-final in The Sunday Times: \u201cBiarritz are such overwhelming favourites to win in San Sebasti\u00e1n today that if Northampton beat them it would be like Leon Spinks not just beating Muhammad Ali, but knocking him out.\u201d <\/p>\n

The clubs had met in the pool stage already, and Biarritz won both games. Dimitri Yachvili gave them a 6-0 lead before Robbie Kydd\u2019s interception made the unthinkable reality.<\/p>\n

\"RugbyFrom left: Alex King, Will Green and Lawrence Dallaglio get to grips with the Heineken Cup after Wasps\u2019 2004 triumphMike Egerton\/EMPICS Sport<\/p>\n

(3) 2004 final: London Wasps 27 Toulouse 20<\/p>\n

Wasps, in the throes of a triad of domestic success, against the aristocrats who were defending the Heineken Cup, in a final at Twickenham. It was 20-20 and nearing extra time when \u201cThe Poitrenade\u201d was born. Cl\u00e9ment Poitrenaud dillied his dally too long over Rob Howley\u2019s speculative kick and chase, and the game was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(2) 1998 final: Bath 19 Brive 18<\/p>\n

Jon Callard scored all 19 of Bath\u2019s points, including the winning penalty at the death. Brive were the defending champions and Martin Johnson, the vanquished captain a year earlier, reckoned their display that day was as complete as any rugby performance he had seen. <\/p>\n

\u201cA triumph for the old Bath,\u201d David Hands wrote in The Times. \u201cFor character, for doggedness, for sheer bloody-mindedness, which sent them whooping and hollering to the end of the stadium where their faithful followers, some 6,000 of them alongside 30,000 stunned Frenchmen, made their salutations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

(1) 2001 final: Leicester Tigers 34 Stade Fran\u00e7ais 30<\/p>\n

Parc des Princes in Paris hosted the Heineken Cup final, a meeting of the English and French champions. Diego Dom\u00ednguez kicked nine penalties and a drop-goal before Leon Lloyd\u2019s try snatched victory. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can wait for another time to decide whether this really was the greatest club match ever played,\u201d Stephen Jones began his report in The Sunday Times, \u201calthough I have to confess that my initial impression, amid the tumult of a staggering occasion, is that it has to be\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bordeaux B\u00e8gles v Bath<\/p>\n

Champions Cup semi-final
Sunday, May 3, 3pm
TV Premier Sports 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 27, 1971, was a typical Saturday for London Welsh RFC. In a year that would bring a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-545900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}