Champions Cup: The biggest finals in Europe’s top-flight history ahead of Leinster vs Bordeaux-Begles meeting | Rugby Union News
Ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao, we look back at some of the greatest European Cup finals in history…
Leinster 26-27 La Rochelle – 2023
The 2023 final between four-time winners Leinster and reigning champions La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin – a replay of the 2022 final in Marseille, where Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle came from eight points down to win in the last minute – was arguably the greatest Champions Cup final ever seen.
That day, a brilliant comeback from 17 points down saw La Rochelle become back-to-back Champions Cup winners with a stunning 27-26 victory over Leinster at home.
Leinster were 17-0 up inside 12 minutes, as hook Dan Sheehan (two) and wing Jimmy O’Brien scored early tries which also saw La Rochelle scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow tied.
The French side hit back with a Jonathan Danty try, but fell 23-7 behind a couple of Ross Byrne penalties, before Danty’s midfield partner UJ Seuteni scored a second try late in the first half to bring the visitors within nine points.
O’Gara’s charges then continued to dominate for most of the second half, showing superiority at scrum time and from the maul, but Leinster’s excellent defense held them out for long after Antoine Hastoy cut the gap to six points.
That was until substitute Georges Henri Colombe was forced off with eight minutes to play, with Hastoy converting the lead to one point – completing the biggest comeback in European Cup final history in the process.
Ronan O’Gara’s charges have sealed the 2023 title, to sit out their final victory in 2022 – again vs Leinster.
Leinster had one last chance to win it when Danty was bound for a superb, hard attack on the La Rochelle try-line in the final minutes, but just when it seemed that the Irish province would make a reversal of La Rochelle’s late success in Marseille, Prop Michael Ala’alatoa was given a red card for a dangerous accident, out of control Colombechelle deserved to clear Colombechelle out of control. with violence.
Leinster 33-22 Northampton – 2011
Before the 2023 milestone in Dublin, the biggest final comeback in Champions Cup history came in 2011 when Leinster won their second title after a crushing 33-22 victory over Northampton Saints in Cardiff.
Leinster claimed their second European title in 2011, coming from 22-6 behind to beat Northampton.
The Saints looked set to win their second European Cup after leading 22-6 at half-time, but an impressive fightback from an Irish side, led by Johnny Sexton, saw them win the competition for the second time in three years.
Tries from Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and Dylan Hartley put Northampton in the lead before Leinster rallied and completely dominated the second half.
Sexton scored after the restart, and the Irish half quickly crossed the line again before a Leinster penalty enabled them to turn their deficit into a one-point lead 17 minutes into the second half.
Johnny Sexton produced the best individual performance in European Cup final history in 2011
Nathan Hines scored Leinster’s third try, in his final game before joining Clermont Auvergne, as the Blues completed a stunning turnaround.
Leicester 34-30 Stade Francais – 2001
Up there with the most exciting European Cup final in history, Leicester claimed their first victory in the competition in 2001 after a thrilling win at the Stade Francais in Paris.
Leicester came from behind to beat Stade Francais in the 2001 high-scoring final in Paris
It looked like the French team would be champions, leading for many games, but Leon Lloyd’s last minute try robbed the Tigers.
Diego Dominguez scored all the points at the Stade Francais, including nine penalties, as the team stood on the brink of European glory.
Trailing 15-9 at half-time, Lloyd scored early in the second half before Neil Back’s try made it 21-21.
Dominguez set the Stade Francais in front, but the contest was decided at the end when Austin Healey broke through the middle and stopped Lloyd to try to win.
Exeter Chiefs 31-27 Racing 92 – 2020
The rescheduled final for 2020 has ensured a new name will be in the cup, with Exeter and Racing facing behind closed doors in Bristol due to Covid-19.
The winners of the competition in 2020 were Exeter Chiefs, after their defeat to Racing 92 behind closed doors.
The fans were robbed of one of the most exciting finals in history, as the ding-dong saw Exeter slide into a 14-0 lead after 20 minutes after tries from Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds.
The race then returned with tries from Simon Zebo and Juan Imhoff, but Chiefs had the last word in the first half as Harry Williams scored in the last game.
Zebo got Racing’s second shortly after the restart, but Henry Slade scored two minutes later to put Exeter back in the spotlight. After just five minutes, Camille Chat was done with the Race, and with 15 minutes to go Maxime Machenaud kicked a penalty which reduced Exeter’s lead to just 28-27.
Defending the try line from Chiefs pushed Racing forward, and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne was very critical. Joe Simmonds then sealed victory with a last-gasp penalty kick, and without referee Nigel Owens’ confusion with the game clock, there would have been no Race restart.
Munster 23-19 Biarritz – 2006
After several years of one point semi-final heartache and two painful near misses in the final, it was third time lucky for Munster in the 2006 Heineken Cup after beating Biarritz in Cardiff.
Munster’s 10-year run to the European Cup title was achieved emotionally in 2006.
Sireli Bobo gave Biarritz a controversial early lead, but Munster responded with a Trevor Halstead point and a superb try from Peter Stringer.
Munster led 17-10 at half-time, but the French side closed to within a point after a couple of penalties from Dmitri Yachvili to set up a tense finish.
Peter Stringer’s try in the 2006 final went down in history
The reliable Ronan O’Gara fired over his third penalty of the game, however, and Munster held on for an emotional European win.
Wasps 27-20 Toulouse – 2004
Rob Howley’s late try gave Wasps a dramatic win over Toulouse in 2004 at Twickenham for their first cup success in the competition.
The Arrows beat Toulouse at Twickenham in 2004, after a famous try by Rob Howley and a bad mistake by Clement Poitrenaud.
The Arrows had the upper hand in the first half, with Stuart Abbott crossing the line to give them the lead, before Toulouse fly-half Yann Delaigue responded to bring his side back within two points of their rivals.
Full-back Mark van Gisbergen scored Wasps’ second try, but the English club were again denied by two penalties from Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
The final looked to be heading for extra-time until Howley ran in his own grubber to kick a try in the Wasps corner, after Clement Poitrenaud had made the mistake of every European Cup final, willing and waiting for the ball to hit the post but failed to push past Howley.
Bath 19-18 Brive – 1998
In the third edition of the Heineken Cup final, Bath broke France’s standards in dramatic fashion against the reigning champions in Brive.
Andy Nicol lifts the trophy as Bath pull off a surprise and dramatic win over Brive
At the start of the second half, Bath trailed by nine points and came to the wire, Brive ready to deliver the killing blow as they camped on the Bath line with a series of scrums.
An incredible seven times the 1997 cup winners tried to break Bath, and seven times Bath refused to tie the knot. The battle of the mind was won and lost in those power packed minutes.
Bath clawed their way back into things on the scoreboard, before a fourth penalty from defender Jon Callard two minutes into injury time sealed a one-point win and Bath’s only lead in the final.
Brive center Christophe Lamaison had one last penalty chance to seal France’s trophy but it was wide to the right, before Lisandro Arbizu looked on in despair as his effort also failed to find the target.
