Road to Cardiff 2025: Investec Champions Cup final four confirmed

Jordie Barrett.

Leinster Rugby, Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Northampton Saints and Stade Toulousain all took another step closer to the Cardiff 2025 Finals this weekend, securing their places in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals.

Leinster Rugby 52 - Glasgow Warriors 0

Aviva Stadium

Leinster Rugby sent a powerful message in Friday night’s Investec Champions Cup quarter-final opener, storming past Glasgow Warriors with an emphatic victory at the Aviva Stadium. Racking up eight tries and shutting out their opponents, Leinster took a massive step toward the Cardiff 2025 Final. Glasgow head coach Franco Smith didn’t hold back in his praise, calling Leinster, “the greatest club team”, he’s ever seen.

Winning by the second highest margin ever in a Champions Cup quarter-final, it underscored Leinster’s dominance in this campaign. The Irish side has now scored 142 unanswered points, following their final pool stage win over Bath Rugby and a 62-0 defeat of Harlequins in the Round of 16.

Jordie Barrett, named Investec Player of the Match, added a new layer of dynamism to an already complete performance. When asked about the risk of complacency creeping in, he said: "It can but that was our challenge. If you care enough, then you won't let that be.”

Looking ahead to the semi-finals, All Black Barrett said: “You can only beat the team that’s put in front of you. We’ve just got to get better every week and that’s our challenge at the moment, we’ve just got to take care of what’s in front of us.”

Despite falling short in their last three Investec Champions Cup finals, Leinster Rugby remain one of the hot favourites to claim the title in Cardiff this May. Now, it’s up to Northampton Saints to find a way to disrupt their momentum in their upcoming semi-final at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 3 May.

Union Bordeaux-Bègles 47 - Munster Rugby 29

Stade Chaban-Delmas

Union Bordeaux-Bègles booked their spot in the semi-finals with an impressive six-try victory at home, despite a big fightback from Munster Rugby in the second half.

Damian Penaud – who scored his 12th try of the season over the weekend to become the highest try-scorer in one season (overtaking Chris Ashton’s 11 in 2017) - opened the scoring crossing for his 12th try in the competition, setting the tone for a dominant first half. Further tries from Maxime Lucu, Pete Samu, and Jon Echegaray gave Bordeaux a commanding lead at the break. Although Munster outscored the hosts 19-18 in the second half, the damage had already been done.

Additional tries from Maxime Lamothe and Six Nations Player of the Tournament Louis Bielle-Biarrey sealed the win and confirmed Union Bordeaux-Bègles’ place in the final four, where they will face reigning champions Stade Toulousain ensuring French representation in the Cardiff final.

Northampton Saints 51 - Castres Olympique 16

cinch Stadium @Franklin’s Gardens

Northampton Saints surged past Castres Olympique to book a return trip to Dublin for a rematch of last year’s semi-final against Leinster Rugby.

This was Castres Olympique’s second visit to the cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens this season, having faced Northampton Saints in the opening round. And just like the first meeting, the Saints delivered a dominant performance.

In a commanding seven-try victory, George Furbank marked his comeback from a broken arm - his first appearance since December - with a try of his own and assists for teammates Tommy Freeman and Curtis Langdon. Henry Pollock also impressed, crossing the line twice in the second half, while Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith showed excellent control. For Castres Olympique, Jeremy Fernandez was the lone scorer, accounting for all of his team’s points.

Alex Mitchell, Investec Player of the Match, reflected on the performance: “In that second 20 minutes we were probably a bit reckless but that’s what we try and do, we try and play fast, move the opposition around and score tries. We found a good balance with that today and 51 points shows that.”

Looking ahead to the semi-final, Mitchell added: “We can’t wait, these are the big games we want to play in the semi-finals, especially against a team like Leinster. They are quality, one of the best around.”

Leinster Rugby now stands between Northampton Saints and their first finals appearance since 2011. The Irish side will no doubt recall last year’s tense semi-final at Croke Park, where Northampton Saints came close to a comeback, ultimately falling 20-17.

RC Toulon 18 - Stade Toulousain 21

Stade Félix Mayol

A sold-out Stade Felix Mayol and a roaring “Pilou Pilou” set the stage for a tense quarter-final clash between RC Toulon and Stade Toulousain. A nail-biting match, it came down to a penalty in the final throws for reigning champions Stade Toulousain to book their place in the final four.

Stade Toulousain got the first points on the board with a Thomas Ramos penalty but the first half was largely RC Toulon’s. Melvyn Jaminet punished a lack of discipline from the visitors with four penalties, giving RC Toulon an early lead before Ramos replied to make it 12-6 at the break.

Stade Toulousain came out firing in the second half. Jack Willis crashed over for the game’s first try, followed by Pita Ahki as the reigning champions seized control. But RC Toulon battled back, with two more Jaminet penalties levelling the scores at 18-18.

In a dramatic finish, Ramos kept his nerve to slot a last-minute penalty in the last play of the match, sending Stade Toulousain into the semi-finals, where they will face Union Bordeaux-Bègles on Sunday, 4 May.

STATISTICS

Click below for a comprehensive review including results, key data and top performers.

CC Quarter-finals review.pdf

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Quarter-finals – Top Performers

Points: 18 Melvyn Jaminet (RC Toulon)

Carries: 21 Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)

Metres: 140 Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors)

Defenders beaten: 6 Pete Samu (Union Bordeaux-Bègles), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)

Offloads: 4 James Ramm (Northampton Saints), Jordie Barrett (Leinster Rugby), Jon Echegaray (Union Bordeaux-Bègles), RG Snyman (Leinster Rugby), Emmanuel Meafou (Stade Toulousain)

Tackles: 21 Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors)

Quarter-finals – Key Stats

Max Deegan (Leinster Rugby) scored two tries at the weekend. He crossed the gainline with over 57% of his carries and all of his cleanouts were effective.

Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints) scored two tries, beat a round-high six defenders and won three turnovers in the quarter-final.

Jack Willis and Alexandre Roumat (Stade Toulousain) made more post-contact metres than any other players at the weekend: 23 and 22 respectively.

Jordie Barrett (Leinster Rugby) made as many offloads as any other player in the quarter-final (four) and won the joint-most turnovers (three).

Pete Samu (Union Bordeaux-Bègles) beat the joint-most defenders in the quarter-final. He also made three clean breaks and scored a try.