Bath Ready to Test Bordeaux Juggernaut in Champions Cup Semifinal

It was Phil Dowson who first floated the comparison, and by Friday night it had proven remarkably accurate. The Northampton director of rugby had likened his side to a boxer, all angles and quick hands, facing a Bath team built like a grinding pressure fighter. The prediction delivered exactly what it promised: a 43-41 thriller that ranks among the great European knockout matches.

Now Bath must do what few believed they could do back in 1998 when Andy Nicol's side somehow walked into Bordeaux and stole the Heineken Cup final 19-18. That was then, this is now, and Bordeaux are a far tougher proposition than Brive ever were.

The numbers tell their own story. Bordeaux trailed Toulouse 15-5 at half-time on Sunday, with England-bound flanker Jack Willis putting on what one commentator called a phenomenal display. By the end, Bordeaux had racked up 25 unanswered points to win going away. The turning point came when Toulouse lost prop Dorian Aldegheri to a red card, but the momentum shift had already begun.

What makes Bordeaux so dangerous is their depth of physicality. While the backline sparkle of Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Matthieu Jalibert grabs attention, it is the heavy artillery up front that wins the real wars. Ben Tameifuna, Adam Coleman, Jefferson Poirot, Cameron Woki and Temo Matiu form a forward engine that simply refuses to stall in the final quarter. When opponents think they have done enough, Bordeaux find another gear.

Bath, though, look built to counter exactly that. Johann van Graan has assembled a squad built on similar principles. Thomas du Toit at tighthead prop proved in the Northampton victory that the set-piece battle can be won against any opponent. Finn Russell and Ben Spencer give them a tactical intelligence at halfback that mirrors Bordeaux's Maxime Lucu. And crucially, Bath have shown all season they know how to finish.

The 6-2 bench split has become Bath's secret weapon. When Van Graan's team travel to the banks of the Garonne early next month, they will back themselves to wear Bordeaux down just as effectively as Northampton could not. We don't know how to give up, Van Graan said after the quarterfinal win. That philosophy will be tested to its absolute limit.

Exeter Chiefs are also through after a rollercoaster 44-41 win over Benetton in Treviso, keeping alive the possibility of an all-English final in Bilbao. But the real story this weekend is Bath's date with the giants. Twenty years since their last European semifinal, they return to the continent's biggest stage with something to prove.