Phil Dowson: Northampton Saints will ‘fly into’ Champions Cup final

Bordeaux also have plenty of top quality players, with French internationals Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert directing operations at half-back and the flair and finishing power of Damien Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey out wide.

“They are really enjoyable to watch – Jalibert and Lucu are outrageously good in terms of seeing space, driving tempo,” Dowson noted.

“Their wingers are lightning quick, I love the (number) eight [Australia international Pete Samu], he’s a really good ball carrier, and the hooker [Maxime Lamothe] looks like he’s a bit of a character, he’s physical and in amongst it – across the board they’ve got high quality.

“That’s what you expect to see from a French side sitting second in the table. They want to play fast, they want to look for space, they want to be brave and that makes for entertainment.”

It was back in 2000 that Northampton beat Munster 9-8 at Twickenham to lift what was then called the Heineken Cup, but a similar scoreline this time appears unlikely given the attacking approach of both teams.

Their journey to the final this time has taken them as far as South Africa, during the group stage, and to Dublin for a tight semi-final against Leinster which they won 37-34, backed by support which Dowson described as “exceptional”.

Asked whether they will win on Saturday, he replied: “I don’t know. The whole point of sport and the reason we love it is because nobody knows what’s going to happen.

“All I can tell you is we are going to go flying into it with loads of energy, loads of heart, we’re going to work incredibly hard and when it goes well, we’re going to celebrate and when it goes wrong, we’re going to pick each other up.

“We’re going to keep doing that for 80 minutes and then look up at the scoreboard and see where we’re at.”