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Recap: Northampton Saints vs Leinster LIVE | Heineken Champions Cup

Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the Heineken Champions Cup match between Northampton Saints and Leinster at Franklin’s Gardens.

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Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).

Chris Boyd believes Northampton are facing a Leinster team that plays “like an international side”.

The unbeaten Pool One rivals go head to head in England on Saturday (kick-off 1pm) before next weekend’s return fixture in Dublin.

Top of the Gallagher Premiership and bolstered by Wales fly-half Dan Biggar’s return to action, Saints will take pole position if they topple the four-time European champions.

(Continue reading below…)

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“Leinster play like an international side – they don’t give you any opportunities,” Northampton boss Boyd said.

“I remember watching the semi-finals and final (of the Champions Cup) last season and there was hardly a risk taken in the games. Saracens and Leinster do it exceptionally well.

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“If you get too loose, they will kill you. They’ve got a great set-piece, they are defensively very well organised and they play territory, so they are not going to give you very much.

“The question will be whether we can get enough scraps and turn them into gold because if we don’t, it’s going to be a long day at the office.

“Win or lose, I just want us to walk off the field on Saturday and for the supporters to be able to say that the boys gave all they’ve got. We want to work hard and enjoy doing it.”

Biggar apart, Boyd has made two other changes from the team that demolished Leicester last weekend, with full-back Ahsee Tuala and flanker Jamie Gibson also featuring.

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Leinster, meanwhile, have made twelve changes to their starting line-up after last weekend’s PRO14 win at Glasgow. Jamison Gibson-Park, Devin Toner and Caelan Doris are their three repeat picks, with front-liners such as Tadhg Furlong, Scott Fardy and Rob Kearney including on the bench.

NORTHAMPTON: 15. Ahsee Tuala, 14. Tom Collins, 13. Matt Proctor, 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Cobus Reinach, 1. Alex Waller (c), 2. Mikey Haywood, 3. Ehren Painter, 4. Alex Moon, 5. Api Ratuniyarawa, 6. Tom Wood, 7. Jamie Gibson, 8. Teimana Harrison. Reps: 16. Michael Van Vuuren, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Lewis Ludlam, 21. Connor Tupai, 22. James Grayson, 23. Piers Francis.

LEINSTER: 15. Jordan Larmour, 14. Dave Kearney, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (c), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Cian Healy, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Andrew Porter, 4. Devin Toner, 5. James Ryan, 6. Rhys Ruddock, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris. Reps: 16. James Tracy, 17. Ed Byrne, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Scott Fardy, 20. Max Deegan, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Rob Kearney.

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France). 

WATCH: RugbyPass goes behind-the-scenes at the 2018 Guinness PRO14 final between Leinster and Scarlets

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f
fl 2 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

I ultimately don’t care who the best club team in the world is, so yeah, lets agree to disagree on that.


I would appreciate clarity on a couple of things though:

Where did I contradict myself?

Saying “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” is entirely compatible with ranking a team as the best - over an extended period - when they have won more games and made more finals than other comparable teams. It would be contradictory for me to say “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” and then completely ignore Leinster record of winning games and making finals.


“You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself.”

What you said (that I think trophies matter) is true, in that I said “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.”. Do you understand that Leinster won more games and made more finals than any other (URC-based) team did under the period under consideration?


“Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.”

I really don’t understand why you would think that this is irrelevant. You seem to be saying that winning trophies is the only thing that matters when assessing who is the best, but doesn’t matter at all when assessing who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.


“What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.”

Well then we’ve just been talking at cross purposes. In that my position (that Leinster were the best team overall in 2022-2024) was pretty clear, and you just decided to respond to a different point (whether Leinster were the best team individually in particular years) essentially making the entire discussion completely pointless. I guess if you think that trophies are the only thing that matters then it makes sense to see the season as an individual event that culminates in a trophy (or not), whereas because I believe that trophies matter a lot, but that so does winning matches and making finals, it makes it easier for me to consider quality over an extended period.

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