Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup final offers redemption for Leinster’s battle-scarred veterans, while rugby immortality beckons for Bordeaux Bègles.
Two giants of world club rugby collide at a sold-out San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao.
Leinster will look to secure a fifth Champions Cup title but their first since 2018 when they overcame Racing 92 at the same venue.
Since then, the Irish giants have lost four finals and are desperate to add a coveted fifth star to their jersey to draw them closer to all-time leader Toulouse’s six European titles.
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James Ryan, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Jamison Gibson-Park, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw are among a number of Leinster players from that 2017-18 title-winning squad who are returning to the scene of that triumph desperate to erase the memory of recent failures.
Standing in their way, however, are the new powerhouses of European rugby.
Bordeaux Bègles are going for back-to-back Champions Cup wins when they run out at ‘La Catedral’.
Only six teams have ever won European titles in consecutive seasons.
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The reigning champions have stormed through this season’s competition unbeaten, winning all seven of their matches and topping six major statistical categories, including points scored (305), tries (45) and defenders beaten (240).
The French side captured their first Champions Cup title last season without losing a game, and victory in Bilbao would see them complete a second consecutive flawless European campaign.
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Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
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