Northampton beat Cardiff to earn English clubs first Champions Cup win

Northampton Saints defeated Cardiff at Franklin's Gardens in their opening Champions Cup pool match. BBC News, BBC, UA.NEWS, and Nation.Cymru reported the final score as 28-12. According to BBC News, Northampton became the only English team to win during the opening weekend of the tournament. [1][8][10][11]

BBC News reported that Northampton built a 14-0 lead by half-time following tries from James Pater and Toby Thame. Cardiff responded in the second half with tries from Harri Millard and Mason Grady to cut the deficit to two points. Northampton secured the win through late efforts from George Hendy and Fraser Dingwall, though they missed out on a bonus point. [1]

The victory concluded a difficult opening weekend for English Prem clubs. BBC Sport reported that Bath, Sale, Bristol, and Saracens all lost their opening pool matches, while Gloucester recorded a high-scoring draw against Bordeaux. [1][2]

Elsewhere in the competition, Irish provinces achieved a clean sweep. The Irish Times reported that all four Irish provinces won their opening fixtures, including Connacht beating Saracens 45-36, as FTMQ News reported earlier. [4][5][6][15]

Matches on Saturday were also marked by tributes to former Sale Sharks lock Hyron Andrews, who died aged 31 on Friday at the Lions' team hotel. The BBC, The Guardian, and BBC Sport reported that both the Lions and Sale paid tribute to the South African player before their respective matches, with the Lions deciding to play their game against La Rochelle in his honour. [3][5]