Skip to main content

Northampton beat Cardiff 28-12 to stand alone as English Champions Cup winners

Saints led 14-0 at the break, then saw Cardiff close to 14-12 before George Hendy scored a try and made a try-saving chase to settle the Pool 4 match.

By RuckBee Newsroom2 min read
A red-haired player in green and black hoops dives to tackle a player in light blue by the legs on a rainy, floodlit pitch.
AI illustration

After the opening round of the Champions Cup, no other English club has a win. Northampton Saints are the exception after beating Cardiff 28-12 in Pool 4 at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday 18 October 2026.

The rest of the Prem had a poor weekend. Gloucester drew with Bordeaux-Bègles and the other six English sides were all beaten.

"The stats will say only Saints won but I don't think the English sides are too far away," Dowson said.

A fightback from Cardiff

Saints went into the break 14-0 up, with tries from James Pater and Toby Thame.

The Welsh side did get back into it after the break. Tries from Harri Millard and Mason Grady, plus a Jarrod Evans conversion, cut the gap to 14-12 at around the hour mark.

Hendy changed the game from there. The wing scored straight after Cardiff's comeback and then ran down Josh Adams, who looked certain to score. Dowson singled him out: "George can break the game open, he can make breaks other people can't".

Fraser Dingwall crossed in the 78th minute for Northampton's fourth try. Saints could not find a fifth, so they missed out on a bonus point. Belleau kicked three conversions and Pater added one.

That was well below Northampton's try rate so far this season. They scored 24 tries in their first three matches of their Prem title defence, 11 of them against Bath.

Both sides rotated

Both clubs left out key players with another match close behind. Cardiff rested several of their most important players because they host the Sharks in the URC at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday 23 October 2026, five days after this game. Taulupe Faletau did play, making his first appearance since March and lasting 56 minutes.

Northampton also made changes ahead of their trip to Leicester on Saturday 24 October 2026. Tommy Freeman, Henry Pollock, Alex Coles and Emmanuel Iyogun were not in the matchday 23.

Saints play their next two pool matches in France, away to Stade Français in December and away to Montpellier in January. They finish the group stage at home to the Bulls.

Sources

All pro rugby stories
Two players in green jerseys raise fists in celebration under floodlights while a muddy player in white crouches dejected on the grass.

Pro Rugby

Pau vs Leicester: hosts pull away for 41-17 Champions Cup bonus-point win

Pau scored 17 points without reply after Archie van der Flier's 54th-minute try cut the gap to seven, earning a bonus point in their Pool One opener.

A player in sky blue and white kneels celebrating on grass as teammates run in, with a river and bridge of Bayonne behind.

Pro Rugby

Bayonne vs Cheetahs: Herschel Jantjies' late try seals 29-27 Challenge Cup win

Rob du Preez converted the Springbok scrumhalf's run of more than 50m to put the hosts two points clear after the Cheetahs had fought back to lead 27-22.

Three rugby players in red jerseys stand arm in arm, two weeping with heads bowed, before vineyards and hills at sunset.

Pro Rugby

Lions players in tears at Hyron Andrews tribute before La Rochelle defeat

The 31-year-old lock died after a fall at the team hotel on the Île de Ré, and the Lions dedicated their first Champions Cup match to him the next day.