The Heineken Cup final is a showpiece game for European rugby.
There have been some real thrillers over the years. So, can the 2014 decider live up to these classics?
January 6, 1996 – Toulouse 21-18 Cardiff
Christophe Deylaud won the inaugural Heineken Cup for Toulouse when he kicked a penalty goal in the final seconds of extra time at Cardiff Arms Park.
Adrian Davies, Deylaud’s opposite number, set up a dramatic finale when he kicked his fifth penalty in the 83rd minute, to bring the scores level 15-15 and force another 30 minutes of extra time.
Earlier, Thomas Castaignède scored the first try in the history of the final and Jerome Cazalbou scored as well, but Toulouse’s ill-discipline kept Cardiff in the match.
Christophe Deylaud played 16 Tests for France and won four French and two Heineken Cup titles. Thomas Castaignède played 54 Tests for France and scored 252 points. Adrian Davies played nine Tests for Wales.
May 19, 2001 – Leicester Tigers 34-30 Stade Français
Despite nine penalties and a drop goal by Italian great Diego Dominguez, Leicester won the title with a last-minute try to centre Leon Lloyd.
Despite having their captain – England and Lions leader Martin Johnson – sin-binned for punching in the second half, the Tigers dug deep. Down 15-9 at half-time, the Tigers scored three tries after the break, two from the impressive Lloyd and one by England flanker Neil Back.
Lloyd was capped five times by England and scored 42 tries in 162 games for the Tigers. He now works for various charities. Dominguez scored 983 points in 74 Tests for Italy.
May 20: 2006 – Munster 23-19 Biarritz
Sereli Bobo scored a controversial early try for Biarritz after two minutes, placing the ball down in the left corner with his foot appearing to have been in touch as he ran in to score.
Ronan O’Gara narrowed the gap with a seventh-minute penalty, before Trevor Halstead powered over from close range to get Munster’s opening try after 17 minutes. Peter Stringer sneaked down the blindside of the scrum for a second try and a conversion and penalty from O’Gara put Munster 20–10 ahead at half-time.
Three penalties from Dimitri Yachvili narrowed the gap to just one point with 10 minutes to go before O’Gara scored another penalty for Munster in the 73rd minute, who held onto become the first Irish team to capture the title.
Sereli Bobo played 13 Tests and scored six tries for Fiji. He had a stint in New Zealand and remains in France. Ronan O’Gara won two Heineken Cups and is the leading scorer in the competition’s history. He scored 1,083 points in 128 Tests for Ireland, the most of any Irish player. He holds the record for most points in the Six Nations and in 240 games for Munster scored 2,625 points.
May 21, 2011 – Leinster 33-22 Northampton Saints
First-half tries from Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and Dylan Hartley had put underdogs Northampton within sight of an upset as they led 22-6 at the interval.
However the 2009 champions launched a devastating blitz of 27 unanswered points inside 26 minutes to overrun the Saints and pull off the greatest come-from-behind victory in the history of the final.
Jonathan Sexton was the hero, scoring two tries and kicking four penalties and three conversions for a personal haul of 28 points.
Sexton was a British and Irish Lion in Australia in 2013.
May 18, 2013 – Toulon 16-15 Clermont
Last year’s final was fast, and massively physical, from start to finish. The tone was set with a monstrous hit by Springbok lock Bakkies Botha on Gerard Vosloo in the opening minutes. In a tight first-half, scores were tied 3-3 at the break.
Early in the second half, Clermont scored two tries to take a 15-6 lead, Napolioni Nalaga and Brock James were the scorers. Johnny Wilkinson kicked a penalty to make it 15-9 and then Delon Armitage’s converted try resulted in a 16–15 win for Toulon, despite replacement David Skrela’s last ditch attempt at kicking the winning drop goal.
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