Coles: We showed how much we cared in Cardiff

There was arguably no better embodiment of the Herculean collective effort Northampton Saints put into their pursuit of Investec Champions Cup glory than the totemic performance of Alex Coles.

The 6ft 7in tall forward was among the players to suffer knocks in the build-up to Saturday’s final at the Principality Stadium. Having hobbled from the field late on against Saracens a week previously with no replacements available to take his place, Coles played a minimal part in midweek training, was heavily strapped for Friday’s team run in Cardiff, and received further fitness testing the morning of the game.

Yet out he strode to take his place on a reshuffled Saints back row, which has operated without the services of Sam Graham – who played in all but four of the club’s 32 games in all competitions during the 2023/24 season – following his devastating knee injury in October 2024, and then the more recent blow of Juarno Augustus’ back injury ushering a premature end to his on-field contribution in Black, Green and Gold.

Coles did more than just make up the numbers. He scored his fourth and fifth tries this term in the first half, made nine energy-sapping carries, 11 tackles and weighed in with a linebreak and turnover for good measure, along with his usual dependable lineout leadership and safe hands.

“My emotional and physical tank is pretty emptied,” the 25-year-old said. “I felt that as a whole we gave so much, it meant so much to us. 

While Saints were without ten injured members of their senior squad for their first Final in this competition in 14 years, they were handed fitness boosts for the challenge of facing Bordeaux. For the first time in 2025, captain George Furbank was in the starting line-up, and Ollie Sleightholme was also on the teamsheet as a replacement.

However, their time together on the pitch would be premature and fleeting as the latter arrived in place of second-minute injury victim James Ramm, before Furbank was knocked out by a wayward knee shortly afterwards. 

Temo Mayanavanua’s failed HIA on the half-hour mark after he was the unfortunate recipient of a high shot saw necessitated a further enforced change as Saints also had to contend with losing his replacement Ed Prowse to the sin bin, which briefly overlapped the ten-minute period Tommy Freeman spent on the sidelines following his earlier caution. 

Yet despite this barrage of misfortune, Saints’ spirit shone through as they went in at the break all square thanks to Coles’ try-scoring feats and the laser-like accuracy of Fin Smith’s boot.

“Initially we rode that adversity really well, the injuries and then two yellow cards in the first half, to go in at half-time like we did, I think showed how much we cared, how much we wanted it, to stay in that game,” explained Coles.

Bordeaux did lose Romain Buros to a 20th-minute head injury, but were able to deploy the rest of their bench on a tactical basis and that played its part in a second half that delivered only eight points – all of which were added to the French side of the scoreboard to break Saints hearts.

“Bordeaux could bring on fresh legs in the second half and they brought a lot of physicality and energy to the game,” Coles reflected. “We probably spent what we had in the tank and it paid dividends because we had no territory really.”

While Phil Dowson’s men spent much of the second period on the ropes, defending their own line, they remained upright and in the fight. Cheered on by thousands of the Shoe Army in the Principality Stadium, they refused to be knocked out.

A Bordeaux side that averaged nearly a 27-point margin of victory across their clean sweep of sevens wins in the pool and knockout stages found themselves unable to put Northampton on the canvas. But with scoreboard ascendancy, and the ball in their possession, it was Bordeaux’s arm that was ultimately raised come the final whistle.

“We just kept fighting on our line and credit to us, we did really well,” Coles said. “We just weren’t accurate enough, weren’t physical enough, and didn’t really have enough in us in the second half to throw many punches of our own.”