Northampton Saints has to do these four things to numb Bordeaux and claim European Cup Glory, writes Dan Biggar

I spent four wonderful years in Northampton, but I couldn’t even win a lottery there in my time, let alone a trophy. Now I’m gone, things are different. I don’t try to take it personally!

The saints earned it to lift the Premiership title of last year, their first in a decade. And now they are only one win from claiming the largest club match of European rugby, with only Bordeaux between them and Champions Cup Glory.

I say ‘only’ Bordeaux. I know from my time to play with Toulon in France how good they are and saints have taken out their work. But don’t be mistaken, this is a game that can win Northampton.

After their semi -final victory over Leinster, they will believe that they can beat everyone. And rightly so.

In Try-Machine France Wingers Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud, as well as Scrum-Half Maxime Lucu, Bordeaux have beautiful and extremely dangerous players. Bielle-Biarrey has so far 31 attempts in 27 games for Club and Land this season, which is just ridiculous! To win, Northampton will have to keep him still and bring them a game.

With the players they have, they can definitely win the tournament. Here are four important things that they have to do well to do exactly that …

1. Keep accurately and to compete

Bordeaux is a team whose greatest strength is clearly in their back line, in particular their back three where Bielle-Biarrey and Penaud cause massacre.

Bordeaux’s back are among the best in Europe. Northampton just can’t feed them with stairs that give them time to bring the ball back.

Instead, when Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith put the boot on the ball, they have to ensure that the pursuers of Northhampton touch the will of Penaud man and ball. Tommy Freeman will have to do a lot of work, not only in possession, but also out.

At the end of April, La Rochelle Bordeaux played away and did exactly to seal a big win. They kept things tight, kicked high and chased hard, forcing Bordeaux in errors.

Northampton does not have a gigantic front five like La Rochelle, so they cannot fully copy their approach. But they can look at their khoptactics and do inspiration.

In that game, La Rochelle Bielle-Biarrey and Penaud limited to almost no open field situations. That’s where those two thrive. You can’t give them the chance.

In the La Rochelle game, Bordeaux became so frustrated that they had so few opportunities to run that they did that when it wasn’t. The result was that they were put under pressure, made mistakes and lose the game.

Mitchell and Smith must be pin-point with their kicks. The fact that George Furbank is fit enough to be involved is important because that will also help because he is a different kicking option to take the pressure of half the backs.

2. Limit transitions

Everyone thinks Northampton is playing a full attack. And they sometimes produce some sparkling things. But at the same time the saints are also very structured with how they do things and that applies to both sides of the ball. The last four victory in Dublin was a good example of that, and Northampton has to do the same in the final.

Bordeaux is one of the best teams I have ever seen in the transition attack, and if Northhampton turns the ball, it will be two phases and Bordeaux will be among the posts. You saw them doing that in their incredible semi -final victory over Toulouse. Some of their attempts were just cash register. They like to go kisses.

To stop that, Northampton must minimize their mistakes. You can never play the perfect game, so mistakes will happen. But if saints cough the ball, it will ideally happen in the opposition half.

For Northampton it’s all about structure. That is the word that Phil Dowson will be rammed at home this week. Play directly and with intention. The Leinster game is the blueprint.

Bordeaux is the opposite. They thrive on massacre. Their air half Matthieu Jalibert likes unstructured, open play. He plays completely from the cuff with small chips, rooting and maverick passes. Bordeaux also does not want Saints to dispute the breakdown.

So if boys like Henry Pollock can slow down their ball in the contact area, that will also help.

3. Set piece parity

In the semi -final between Bordeaux and Toulouse, Toulouse was massively at the top of scrum season. Despite all their beautiful strengths, Bordeaux is not a team that you will scrub and you will take the park.

Saints will look at that. From a realistic point of view, they probably can’t hope to dominate Bordeaux in advance. But they must ensure that it is an area where they at least have parity.

If saints do well on the set piece, it will help them keep the game structured. If you admit fines to the Scrum, your opposition can dominate the field position.

Bordeaux also likes ticking and going from penalties through Lucu. Northampton cannot afford that their set piece will get into trouble. It does not necessarily have to be a weapon for them, but it must at least be his own.

4. Accept that you admit points!

Northampton had to score 37 points to beat Leinster. To do that in a semi -final to a team that is as good when it goes what goes.

Both teams will probably accept that they will not win this last 9-8 – as Saints did against Munster in 2000, their only European title – because there is so much offensive talent and the circumstances will be good with the roof of the Principaly Stadium roof.

Saints will again have to score about 30 points to win. But they also have to accept that Bordeaux will score. They cannot press the panic button if they go over the length of the field and score. They do that to everyone, so there is no shame!

Their loose forward Pete Samu is just ridiculous. He has had an incredible season, smoking players and getting his team on the front with huge carrys.

What Saints have done well in Europe this season has been detained in competitions. They went behind early against Clermont Auvergne and came back. It was back and forth against Leinster. They have to do the same against Bordeaux and make things a difficult and uncompromising battle.

In that game La Rochelle, Lucu and Jalibert were made to look quite on average. Lucu has really proven himself with his versions for France when Antoine Dupont is absent or injured.

There is no doubt that he and Jalibert are really good club players. But I’m not sure if they are on the backfoot, they can also control things because of the way they play. They want everything to go their way so that they can produce all the films and tricks that they like.

If Northampton does not give them that time, they can win.