The 30th anniversary of European Cup rugby turned into another epic weekend of action at the Principality Stadium as Bath and Bordeaux-Begles carried off the top two titles in the northern hemisphere game in two matches played out in front of 106,930 fans.
Back where it all began in 1997 with the first trailblazing Heineken Cup final between Toulouse and Cardiff, tournament organizers EPCR staged their showpiece events on consecutive days at the home of Welsh rugby – and the spiritual home of what is now the Investec Champions Cup.
On Friday night it was Bath who were crowned EPCR Challenge Cup champions with their 37-12 win over Lyon.
It was Bath's first major silverware since they won the same competition in 2008 under the captaincy of current England head coach Steve Borthwick.
They added the Challenge Cup to their Premiership Cup success earlier this season and are only two wins away from completing a treble, having topped the Gallagher Premiership table ahead of the play-offs.
Johann van Graan's team overcame first-half yellow cards for Sam Underhill and Will Muir before subduing their dogged Top 14 opponents.
In the end they were able to post the tournament's biggest winning margin in a final since 1998.
Tries from hooker Tom Dunn, centre Max Ojomoh, prop Beno Obano and captain Ben Spencer saw Bath home, while Spencer's half-back partner Finn Russell kicked four conversions and three penalties.
Lyon led through wing Ethan Dumortier's early score and No 8 Arno Botha also touched down. Outside half Leo Berdeu added one conversion.
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The Friday night final attracted a crowd of 36,705, while the Champions Cup gate reached 70,225 for what was the seventh final staged in the Welsh capital.
Reigning English champions Northampton got off to a flying start with the first of flanker Alex Coles’ two tries in less than three minutes. He powered over at the posts after Bordeaux-Begles had made a hash of the opening kick-off and surrendered possession.
Finn Smith added the extras and the 2000 champions and 2011 runners-up were up and running.
The French side hit back with the first of two tries from Damian Penaud.
His international wing colleague Louis Bielle-Biarrey then had one ruled out for a forward pass before Australian lock Adam Coleman dived over in the right corner midway through the first half for a try that Mathieu Jalibert converted superbly off the touchline.
That gave Bordeaux-Begles, playing in their first final, the lead and they were never behind in the match after that.
Jalibert sandwiched a penalty between two from Smith as the nip and tuck nature of the game continued.
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Then, Penaud struck again for the 14th time in this season’s tournament to give Bordeaux-Begles a 20-13 lead.
Northampton thought they had conjured up a try for Henry Pollock, but it was ruled out for offside, but Coles grabbed his second on the stroke of half time to enable Smith to kick the conversion that tied things up once again at 20-20.
Those 40 points were a record for a first half in a Champions Cup final and there was no let up in the action in the second half.
Northampton almost scored a try to take the lead with a front of the line-out peel, but Pollock was called back for a forward pass and then they lost a second player to the sin-bin as back row man Ed Prowse followed Tommy Freeman to the sidelines.
Jalibert kicked another penalty and the title was wrapped up just before the hour mark when giant lock Cyril Cazeaux drove over for Bordeaux-Begles’ fourth try.
That made it 28-20 and ensured the French side became only the 14th club to win the most coveted club title in world rugby.
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