In his first exclusive column for Planet Rugby, For The Love Of Rugby co-host Ben Youngs recalls his memories of the Investec Champions Cup ahead of this weekend’s opening games and makes his prediction for this season’s winner.
To win the Investec Champions Cup in your club colours is the pinnacle. I never got to do it, but I can’t imagine there is anything better than that. I look at it and think, ‘Wow. It must be incredible.’
When Leicester Tigers lost to Leinster Rugby in the 2009 final in Edinburgh, I was a travelling non-reserve who did the whole warm-up, got showered and watched it from the stands, so the closest I ever got to the Cup as a player was when we played Racing 92 in the 2016 semi-finals at Nottingham Forest’s ground.
They put the Cup on that stand when you walk onto the pitch from the tunnel – and that was the closest I ever got to it. Anyone who goes on to win, you have to tip your hat because it is an incredibly competitive competition. It’s amazing.
Investec Champions Cup brings out the best in people
My earliest memory was watching Leicester when they beat Stade Français Paris to win it in 2001 and, of course, the 2002 final against Munster Rugby at the Principality Stadium, the Millennium as it was called then. I wasn’t at those games, but I just remember watching at home with my dad.
The European Cup was something I grew up watching and loved. When I first started playing, we had those double headers, the back-to-back weekends in rounds three and four.
That format with the French and the Irish teams was a challenge, but you look at the Champions Cup now with the South African teams involved, what a test it is to go and win there.
You have just seen all the nations battering each other over the last month in the Quilter Nations Series, and the players are now back at the clubs getting ready to go and do it again. The Investec Champions Cup brings out the best in people and the best out of the teams, as you don’t get to play these fixtures very often.
For instance, I only ever got to play Stade Rochelais once in my whole career. Even the Glasgow Warriors, I had never played them in my whole career away until last season, so it took me 19 seasons before I finally went up to play them. UBB Bordeaux-Bègles the same.
It highlights the beauty of the Investec Champions Cup; you play teams that you don’t play too often, and that’s pretty cool.
Having now retired from playing, I shall be sitting at home this weekend enjoying the non-stop action on Premier Sports. I’ll veg out watching. This is a tournament with a huge history and it definitely is a world-class competition.
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2025/26 title prediction
French clubs have won the Investec Champions Cup the past five seasons and I can’t see past another French team, to be honest with you. Stade Toulousain missed out last year with Bordeaux winning it, and I do think Toulouse can win it this season.
The big thing about the French is their strength in depth and their power. Look at what the Springboks have done in international rugby with that power game; teams can’t handle it.
Can teams go toe-to-toe with the French? Some teams definitely can. Leinster are an obvious choice, but I think the depth and the power that the French have within their game grinds them down.
That is where they tip it against other teams. They have that power game in that last 20 minutes that teams just can’t quite match.
Out of the ordinary
Toulouse lost last year to Bordeaux and they will have the bit between their teeth. Antoine Dupont is back fit, they have created a bit of a dynasty in recent years, and I can see them putting down a benchmark in round one against Hollywoodbets Sharks.