Alex Mitchell: Northampton and Bath prove that Premiership clubs can compete with European elite

The wait for a Premiership club to win the Champions Cup now stretches into it's sixth season, with Exeter Chiefs' triumph in 2020 being the last time an English club won the competition. The French clubs of the Top 14 have since dominated the European Cup, with Stade Toulousain, Stade Rochelais and now Union Bordeaux-Begles trading possession of the trophy throughout the past half decade.

However, the tide could well be on the turn, as Northampton Saints and Bath Rugby flew the Premiership flag out in Cardiff this past weekend. Bath denied the French clubs a clean sweep of European silverware, as the blue, black and whites defeated Lyon OU for the Challenge Cup title - again, the first in half a decade since Bristol Bears lifted the trophy in 2020.

Despite the challenges the Premiership clubs face from a budget perspective when compared to the deeper pockets of the Top 14, Mitchell believes that the English clubs could now be on the cusp of a fresh era of European success.

"I think a lot of clubs can take a lot of confidence from it. I think this competition for especially for English clubs, has been tough last couple of years. I think in regards to its budgets or whatnot, we do struggle. But yeah, I think we showed, regardless of that, you can front up, you can play against these best teams, quality team outfits, international teams and nearly do a job, and we showed today that we got to the final and nearly won. So it's tough to take today, but it's a lot of credit to us guys."

"We've got a lot of confidence, and we know we can beat the best sides in the world. That's how we did so well against Leinster, we genuinely backed ourselves and genuinely had confidence to get a result and that's what we did. So regardless of all that, we know we're good enough, the good coaching which we've got. The boys fronting up, the boys wanted to play and be competitive and win, we can do really good things."

Despite the Premiership rivalry between Northampton Saints and Bath, Mitchell expressed how the East Midlanders were firmly supporting their league compatriots in the Challenge Cup Final. The two English clubs squared off for the 2024 Premiership Final, yet the animosity seems to be put to the side for joint endeavours into the unchartered European waters.

"I mean, we watched the game, and they were class, they're a better team than Lyon and they showed that. You always want the English teams to win, it shows how good our league is and how quality Bath are. Obviously, they didn't manage to get the Premiership last year. So it's nice to see them lift some silverware."

After the Challenge Cup Final on Friday night, Bath captain Ben Spencer gave a nice message of support to the Northampton Saints players for their titanic clash with the Top 14 heavyweights. Whilst the Saints weren't able to get the job done for the Premiership clubs this past weekend, Mitchell revealed how it was brilliant to receive a whole manor of support from his would-be rivals out in the domestic English league.

"I got a few messages. I actually got loads of messages saying, 'Good luck'. I can't remember who from, but there was a couple of Bath boys, which was class to see a lot of Prem boys, which was nice. So it's nice to see them supporting us. It's quite weird getting some of the Leicester boys and Bristol boys supporting us. But, it's nice to see an English team in the final, and I think they genuinely wanted us to win, which is quite nice to actually see a bit, for a change."

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