A Final of French Flair: Champions Cup

The pinnacle of the 2020-21 Champions Cup is in sight as rugby fans the world over are licking their lips in anticipation of the mouth-watering, all French clash between La Rochelle and Toulouse which will no doubt bring the competition to a roaring crescendo. 

It will be the first time that Toulouse and La Rochelle will meet in European competition, however, they are, of course, old adversaries with regards to the French Top 14. The recent history of their rivalry is dominated heavily by Toulouse, who have emerged victorious in 6 of their past 7 encounters.  

With this upper hand, as far as history goes, Toulouse will be fired up confidence-wise as they sharpen their blades this week, plus, should they win on Saturday, it will be a record fifth title under the belt – a most prestigious achievement for any European club. Interestingly, of their current four titles, three were forged against French opposition. 

Both sides appear to be at the top of their respective games and currently each enjoy a 4-match winning streak going into the final. 

As if Toulouse’s wonderful backs are not enough to contend with, their set-piece has glowed this season; they boast a 100% scrum success record as well as having won 29% of opposition scrums – the finest record in the competition. 

The stats show that La Rochelle’s attack and defence has been slick this season. In broken play, they average 11.4 offloads per game (second-highest in the competition behind Lyon) while they’ve also managed to stifle the lion’s share of opposition offloads (averaging only 4.5 per game against them). 

There are significant individuals in each line-up, the capabilities of whom will contribute significantly to what is sure to be a revered display of rugby. Gregory Alldritt (La Rochelle) has racked up 59 carries in the competition so far – the highest of any player – and has managed to beat 10 defenders – tie-first amongst the forwards in that particular stat as well. 

One name which will be uttered with a high degree of frequency in the run-up to the kick-off will be that of Antoine Dupont. It has been a thunderous year for the 24-year-old who is now widely considered to be the best in his position the world over, and the stats seem to agree.  

Dupont has once again proved himself to be an attacking dynamo, posting the joint-top number of tries in the competition (4), as well as boasting the highest average gain per carry (7.8m). He holds second place in two other stats; offloads (7) and defenders beaten (20). The live-wire scrumhalf will no doubt be marked out by La Rochelle’s tough, hard-working flanker Wiaan Liebenberg, who has racked up the highest average number of tackles per game in the competition (16.9). 

With the stage set at Twickenham, all eyes will be on what will hopefully be a fitting conclusion to yet another brilliant competition, courtesy of Europe’s finest.