Champions Cup: Montpellier 26-17 Northampton Saints
European Champions Cup

Champions Cup: Montpellier 26-17 Northampton – Montpellier still alive as Nadolo shines

20 January 2017
Rugby Rucker
  • Northampton suffered a fourth European Champions Cup defeat of the campaign
  • Montpellier kept their own hopes of reaching the quarter-finals alive
  • The impressive Nemani Nadolo crossed twice as the hosts recorded a bonus-point win
Montpellier pulled off a bonus-point win over Northampton Saints, keeping their Champions Cup hopes alive with a 26-17 victory.

Saints headed into the fixture knowing they could not reach the knockout stages, and made nine changes to the team that beat Castres 28-21 at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend.

Lee Dickson’s try helped the visitors take a narrow 20-3 lead into the break.


However, it was the French side who got the bonus point they desired, as the impressive Nemani Nadolo crossed twice.

The French side can go through in a best runner-up spot if other results go their way this weekend.

More to follow.

LINE UPS

Montpellier: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Joseph Tomane, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic White, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 Kélian Galletier, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Charles Geli, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Antoine Guillamon, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Antoine Battut, 21 Tomas O’Leary, 22 Henry Immelman, 23 Vincent Martin
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Juan Pablo Estelles, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 George North, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Lee Dickson (c), 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Ben Nutley, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 James Craig, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Charlie Clare, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 James Wilson, 23 Ken Pisi