Northampton beat Cardiff at Franklin's Gardens in only English win of Champions Cup openers
Northampton beat Cardiff at Franklin's Gardens in the opening round of the Champions Cup on 18 October 2026, becoming the only English side to win in that set of fixtures. Saints scored four tries but failed to secure a five-point bonus in the nervy Pool Four game.
Saints, quarter-finalists last season, led 14-0 at half-time in difficult, slippery conditions after James Pater and Toby Thame crossed for tries. Northampton had previously scored 24 tries in their three opening Premiership fixtures of their title defence, including 11 against Bath at Franklin's Gardens. Cardiff returned to the top tier of European competition after two seasons in the Challenge Cup and faced a five-day turnaround to a United Rugby Championship match against Sharks, which saw several key players rested but Taulupe Faletau and Josh Adams handed first appearances of the season following injury. Northampton also made changes ahead of a short trip to Leicester on Saturday but managed to collect the victory.
Full-back Pater opened the scoring for Saints with a supporting run and centre Thame crashed over after 20 minutes, with handling errors and knock-ons from Callum Chick and Cardiff lock Tom Manz contributing to the half-time margin. The slippery playing surface influenced both sides and helped keep the score at 14-0 at the interval. Antony Belleau and Pater provided the conversions that took Northampton to that lead.
Cardiff began the second half strongly when Harri Millard exploited a line inside the 22 and then helped force handling errors from Northampton. The visitors reduced the deficit to 14-12 on the hour after Saints fly-half Anthony Belleau was sin-binned for a breakdown offence and Jarrod Evans moved the ball to Mason Grady for a try converted by Evans.
George Hendy quickly restored Northampton's breathing room with a juggling try that Pater converted, and Pater later prevented a likely Cardiff score by chasing down Josh Adams. Fraser Dingwall crossed in the 78th minute to extend the lead, but Northampton fell short of a fifth try needed for a bonus point.
Northampton's result capped a difficult opening weekend for Premiership clubs in the Champions Cup: Gloucester drew with champions Bordeaux-Begles while six other English sides lost their first-round matches. The Saints' win was therefore the sole victory for an English club in the tournament's opening round.
Northampton named: Pater; Sleightholme, Hutchinson, Thame, Hendy; Belleau, Mitchell; Fischetti, Smith, Kundiona, Lockett, van der Mescht, Kemeny, Taylor, Chick. Replacements: Langdon, Els, Neculai, Prowse, Ulcoq, McParland, Smith, Dingwall. Cardiff named: Young; Grady, Millard, Emanuel, Bowen; Evans, Mulder; Southworth, D Hughes (capt), Wainwright, Manz, Thornton, Paea, D Thomas, Faletau. Replacements: E Lloyd, Barratt, Cowell, McNally, De La Rua, S Davies, Sheedy, Adams. Assistant referees were Thomas Charabas (France) and Cyrille Boulay (France).
Northampton will next travel to Stade Francais in December, return to France in January to face Montpellier and finish the group stage at home against Bulls. Cardiff's Champions Cup schedule sees them host Bath in December before away and home fixtures against Stade Francais and Montpellier in January.