10 Players Who Could Decide The Investec Champions Cup Final 2025 Outcome
10 Players Who Could Decide The Investec Champions Cup Final 2025 Outcome
Get to know the 10 standout players set to shape the 2025 Investec Champions Cup Final in Bordeaux, featuring rising stars and seasoned rugby icons.
The stage is set for the 2025 Investec Champions Cup Final, and with two of the most dynamic clubs in European rugby ready to collide, all eyes are on the individual stars who could define whether Northampton or Union Bordeaux-Begles will be crowned as champion.
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Whether it’s the record-breaking try scorers lighting up the backlines, the fearless tacticians orchestrating from the halves or the physically dominant forwards carving out space and momentum, both teams arrive in Cardiff with a cast of headline-makers.
The final not only crowns a European champion, it also serves as a proving ground for several players eyeing British & Irish Lions selection — and for a few, even a chance to stake a late claim for national squads ahead of a busy international calendar.
From breakout seasons that have ignited fanbases, to rivalries forged at the international level now renewed on club soil, this clash is about more than silverware. It’s about legacies, redemption, and opportunity.
With key players from both sides in red-hot form, including a few names already rewriting record books, this final will be shaped by more than just tactics and territory — it will be defined by individual brilliance.
In this feature, we spotlight 10 players who could tip the scales in Saturday’s final. Some are established stars; others are emerging with frightening speed. All are ready to leave their marks.
Damian Penaud, UBB Rugby
- Age: 27
- Height: 6'4"
- Weight: 216lbs
- Position: Wing
Widely regarded as one of the best wingers in professional rugby since making his international debut eight years ago, Damian Penaud smashed the Investec Champions Cup single-season try-scoring record this season with a whopping 12 tries so far.
Highlighting his prolific run was an out-of-this-world performance against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in UBB’s final pool-stage match.
Dotting down for six tries on the day, Penaud proved unequivocally that he is one of the sport’s most prolific finishers.
Louis Bielle Biarrey, UBB Rugby
- Age: 21
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 185lbs
- Position: Wing
Thirty tries in 26 matches. Yes, you read that correctly.
This is Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try-scoring record at the time of writing across all competitions this season.
Playing a key role in UBB’s run to the final, most notably with his two tries against Stade Toulousain in the semifinal, the 21-year-old might just be the fastest player in professional rugby in 2025.
Shredding opponents from everywhere on the pitch, LBB is unstoppable when given an inch of space. To label him as a simple speedster would not be doing his rugby intellect and physicality justice.
Despite his relatively lightweight frame, LBB never shirks his defensive responsibilities, while his ability to be in the right place at the right time is truly elite.
Maxime Lucu, UBB Rugby
- Age: 32
- Height: 5'10"
- Weight: 174lbs
- Position: Scrumhalf
Emerging from the shadow cast by the great Antoine Dupont, veteran scrumhalf Maxime Lucu proved he too is a world-class operator during the 2025 Guinness Six Nations.
At club level, his ability has never been doubted, and in a UBB squad stacked with stars, he is the glue that holds it all together.
Dominating as a petit general, Lucu’s control and precision allow his halfback partner Matthieu Jalibert to dazzle with extra time and space.
Tactically, Lucu pulls the strings for Bordeaux, and when he is not involved, the team's attacking direction is greatly affected.
From the kicking tee, Lucu is UBB’s long-range maestro and is more than comfortable to take over if Jalibert or Joey Carbery is having an off day.
Matthieu Jalibert
- Age: 26
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 185lbs
- Position: Flyhalf
Quite possibly the most gifted attacking fly-half in European Rugby, Jalibert has at times been underappreciated at international level.
Pitted head-to-head with his chief rival for Les Bleus’ No. 10 shirt, Romain Ntamack, during UBB’s semifinal victory over Stade Toulousain, Jalibert was a class above and firmly outshone his rival with a varied and lethal attacking performance, both as a carrier and as a distributor.
Most impressive on that day was his kick selection, which at times, has been the part of his game critics have pointed to as to why Ntamack is the regular international starter.
Another area where he was exceptional was in defense, as he handled the powerhouse Toulouse carriers with aplomb.
Marko Gazzotti, UBB Rugby
- Age: 27
- Height: 6'4"
- Weight: 240lbs
- Position: Backrow
In a world where Northampton’s Henry Pollock has been garnering all of the plaudits. Another 20-year-old backrow has been taking major strides of his own as a true impact player.
Former France U20 star, Marco Gazzotti, is every bit as exciting as Pollock and brings a huge level of physicality to proceedings with his 6’3” and 110kg frame.
Thus, his battle with Pollock will be worth the admission alone for those in attendance on May 24.
Across the board, Gazzotti is a nuisance for opponents.
On the ground, he is a deadly poacher, while in contact, he simply melts ball carriers. Offensively, he is a great line-out option, and his ball carrying is at an elite level already.
In short, he is the total package for a modern backrow.
Henry Pollock, Northampton Saints
- Age: 27
- Height: 6'2"
- Weight: 236lbs
- Position: Backrow
Quite possibly the most spoken about player in Northern Hemisphere rugby since the conclusion of the Six Nations, Saints and England backrow Henry Pollock long has been tipped to be an elite player, and at just 20 years old, he will be the youngest player in the British and Irish Lions squad later this year.
Exceptional in every department, Pollock is a high-motor, high-energy dynamo of a player.
Never shirking his defensive work, Pollock’s ability to make a tackle and get back to his feet to contest is among the best we have seen by any player of the past 25 years.
In attack, he has world-class speed and all the skills to operate anywhere on the pitch. This versatility essentially offers Northampton an extra backline player, without losing any of his work rate in the pack.
Fin Smith, Northampton Saints
- Age: 23
- Height: 5'10"
- Weight: 192lbs
- Position: Flyhalf
Set to duke it out with Finn Russell later this summer for the starting fly-half shirt with the British and Irish Lions, Fin Smith has enjoyed a true breakout season in 2025.
Ripping the No. 10 shirt away from his namesake Marcus during the 2025 Guinness Six Nations, Fin Smith is the prototypical English test fly-half.
Ultra physical in defense, exceptional with his game management and possessing a world-class kicking game, he has everything one needs to succeed as a fly-half.
Add in a sprinkling of magic dust; Smith is perhaps underrated as a playmaker and attacking threat of his own as a ball carrier.
Surrounded by incredible attacking talent with the Saints, Smith is the conductor of the high-flying Sam Vesty-designed orchestra.
Alex Mitchell, Northampton Saints
- Age: 27
- Height: 5'10"
- Weight: 196lbs
- Position: Scrumhalf
Northampton’s Jack in the Box scrumhalf is the spark that gets the motor running for the Saints.
Similar to Ireland maestro Jamison Gibson-Park, Mitchell is an elite distributor both from hand and the boot, but his real skill is knowing how to dictate the pace of a game.
Offering a top-notch running threat from the base of the ruck, defenses cannot allow Mitchell even a modicum of space without risking being torn apart.
Partnering with Fin Smith for both club and country in the halfbacks, Mitchell has a real shot at displacing Gibson-Park as the starting Lions scrumhalf against the Wallabies.
A big win in the Champions Cup final will give him a major leg up in that battle.
Tommy Freeman
- Age: 27
- Height: 6'3"
- Weight: 227lbs
- Position: Centre/Wing
Joining UBB’s pairing of Penaud, Bielle-Biarrey, Tommy Freeman undoubtedly is one of the best wingers in international rugby in 2025.
Scoring a first-half hat trick in the Saints’ big semifinal win over Leinster, Freeman was the difference for his side against the heavily tipped Irish side.
Comfortable at both outside center and on the wing, the powerhouse Freeman combines pace, physicality and an outlandish rugby IQ to form a lethal combination.
Similar to his Northampton teammates, Freeman has a huge chance of starting for the Lions against the Wallabies in the three-test series. Before that, his battle with UBB’s flyers has the potential to be an all-time duel.
Juarano Augustus
- Age: 27
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 256lbs
- Position: Backrow
Northampton’s go-forward gear, South African backrow Juarano Augustus, carries the ball at a level unlike many other players in the Champions Cup.
Taking at least two defenders to stop him, Augustus is key to not only getting over the gainline for the Saints, but opening up space for those around him with a top-notch offloading game.
Such is his form that the Ulster-bound 27-year-old is widely tipped to break into the Springboks squad later this season.
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