Top 5 European Rugby Champions Cup/Heineken Cup Finals
Munster and the late Anthony Foley lift their maiden Heineken Cup after beating Biarritz 23-19
Credit: David Rogers/Getty Images
The undoubted summit of club rugby has to be winning the European Cup since its formation way back in 1995 when the game went professional.
We have been treated to many epic final clashes over the years, with eleven different winners coming from English, Irish and French clubs.
Although it was hard to pick favourites, The Flanker has ranked the best five finals in its history with the knockout stages for the 2019-20 tournament set to take place on the weekend of 19/20 September.
5.) 2015: Clermont 18 Toulon 24
Arguably one of the greatest teams ever, the Toulon era of 2012-15 saw three straight Heineken Cup wins as Mourad Boudjellal’s Galaticos asserted their dominance in Europe.
Wesley Fofana nabbed the opening try of the match following a Morgan Parra charge down before Mathieu Basteraud bulldozed over on the stroke of half time to send Toulon into the sheds with a 16-11 lead.
Clermont’s Nick Abendanon – who was awarded 2015 EPCR European Player of the Year – scored a second half try through a delicate chip and chase to bring his side within a point of Toulon, before Drew Mitchell did a madness.
The 71 cap Wallaby international picks the ball up on Clermont’s 10 metre line before dancing past one, two, three, four, five and SIX flailing defenders before diving over to seal the historic treble.
Balance, agility, footwork, pace, awareness and a lavish dollop of flair all rolled into a try worthy of winning any game, let alone the biggest in European club rugby.
It meant more agony for Clermont, who have had three final appearances in their long and proud history without winning the big one.
Want to know what it was like being at Toulon at that time? Look no further than our exclusive interview and podcast with their double Heineken Cup winning captain Joe van Niekerk.
4.) 1998: Bath 19 Brive 18
Former USA Eagle number 8 Dan Lyle on the charge for Bath during their 1998 Heineken Cup victory over Brive
Credit: David Rogers/Getty Images
The kits, the sunshine and the still slightly amateur feel to proceedings rank very highly on the nostalgia scale over here at The Flanker HQ.
With the Heineken Cup still in it’s infancy, Bath became the first English winners as they edged out Brive in the 1998 final in a nervy affair at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux.
Both sides actually met in the pool stage of the 1997-98 tournamnet, with the holders Brive pipped to top spot by the West Country men.
Bath were one of the dominant teams in England throughout the 90s, boasting Ieuan Evans, Jeremy Guscott, Phil de Glanville, Mike Catt, Andy Nicol, Ollie Redmand and Victor Ubogu among their ranks.
Current Racing 92 head coach Laurent Travers turned out for Brive that day in Bordeaux along with Alain Penaud, the father of current France winger Damian.
In truth, it was an error filled display from both sides, with the Frenchmen looking to play most of the rugby. It allowed their mercurial flyhalf Christophe Lamaison to open up a 15-6 lead at half time, a daunting challenge to overcome for Bath.
However, England international Jon Callard, their recalled full-back, crossed for the game’s only try as the final quarter started to unfold in dramatic fashion.
With the clock ticking over into the 81st minute, Callard stepped up again to nail a last minute penalty to take a single point lead going into added time.
Lamaison, unusually fallible from the tee, still had time to send a trick penalty wide on 84 minutes and Lisandro Arbizu's do-or-die drop goal floated inches wide to spark jubilation among Bath fans.
3.) 2004: London Wasps 27 Toulouse 20
Much like Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” moment in the 1986 World Cup or the 1981 “Botham’s Ashes”, this game has to go down as the “Poitrenaud Final” after the France international’s error gifted Rob Howley a late try to break the deadlock.
The score was 20-20 heading into the 78th minute, before the mercurial Wales scrumhalf nudged a speculative kick down the touchline which Poitrenaud tried to shepherd out into touch.
For fans watching, it felt like one of those nightmares where you can see something terrible unfolding but are powerless to resist what is about to come next.
The pesky ball bobbled, flipped and bounced agonisingly close to the whitewash without actually touching it. Poitrenaud dithered, dithered and dithered some more before Howley dived in to seal the try and send Wasps fans potty.
Over 73,000 were treated to a seesaw game which Toulouse led throughout the first half thanks to some assured goalkicking and a try from veteran Yann Delaigue.
The French giants were unable to see off a stubborn Wasps team though, who roared back into the contest with tries from Stuart Abbott and Mark van Gisbergen.
However, it was a game that will be remembered for a cataclysmic error by one of the most reliable fullbacks you are ever likely to see.
"How do you explain what Poitrenaud did?" asked the disbelieving Toulouse coach Guy Novès, whose team dominated possession and territory in the game.
"To lose after such a moment is extremely frustrating but, in fairness to him, we were not winning at the time and Wasps were the better side on the day."
2.) 2011: Leinster 33 Northampton Saints 22
Istanbul in 2005? Medinah in 2012? Or perhaps Cardiff in 2011? As sporting comebacks go, the Jonny Sexton inspired Leinster victory has to rank up there with the greatest turnarounds in history.
Leinster were clear favourites but it was Northampton who raced out the blocks, blowing the Irish province away with their intensity, power and set piece dominance.
Tries from Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and Dylan Hartley blasted Saints into a 22-6 halftime lead, with the green, black and gold army dreaming of adding another Heineken Cup to their 2000 triumph.
But then, Jonny Sexton happened.
He famously referenced Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League Final comeback to inspire his teammates, with Brian O’Driscoll saying: “He speaks when the time needs it but I think he really stood up to the plate this time around and was there to be a senior player as a ten.
“You need your ten to be a senior player and a leader and he was very much that. Besides what he produced in the second half, some of his words at half-time really struck a chord with a lot of people.”
Leinster roared back with a brace of tries from Sexton and when he kicked over a three pointer following a scrum penalty in the 56th minute, he had dragged his team into a 23-22 lead they would never relinquish.
Leinster’s Johnny Sexton celebrates a try during his team’s epic comeback and 33-22 win against Northampton Saints
Credit: Paul Thomas (Photo by Ben Radford Corbis via Getty Images)
On commentary, Sky Sports’ Miles Harrison refers to it as “the greatest recovery of all time in this competition” which is very hard to disagree with. You can relive the game in more depth here.
1.) 2001: Leicester Tigers 34 Stade Francais 30
A retro classic and arguably one of the greatest games of rugby ever seen, Heineken Cup or otherwise. The jerseys, Bill McLaren on commentary duties and that epic Tigers team rank it numero uno for us.
The Tigers actually outscored their opponents 3-0 on tries in the game but the irresistible Diego Dominguez, a legend of Italian rugby, helped himself to a whopping nine penalties and a drop goal in a personal haul of 30 points.
He punished a sloppy Tigers in the first half, banging them over from anywhere and everywhere to send Stade Francais into halftime 15-9 up.
The French side had most of the ball and territory but relied heavily on the boot of Dominguez to keep nudging them ahead, despite tries for Leon Lloyd and a sniping Neil Back keeping Tigers in the fight.
However, that aforementioned drop goal for Dominguez in the 77th minute looked to have sealed the win for Stade as it put them in the driving seat at 30-27 ahead.
There was still time on the clock for scrumhalf Austin Healey to throw an outrageous midfield dummy to completely kipper Dominguez and Kiwi lock Darren George on the halfway line.
He pinned his ears back before feeding Lloyd, who barrelled over in the corner. England international fullback Tim Stimpson had to kick to make it 34-30 to the Tigers, pushing them out of range of Dominguez and his metronomic boot.
It was a tough chance, on his right side with a wicked angle. With the pressure of the East Midlands on his shoulders, his nailed it straight down the middle to take the trophy to Leicester.
This team of Geordan Murphy, Pat Howard, Neil Back, Martin Corry, Ben Kay, Graham Rowntree and many others also added the Premiership to their trophy cabinet that season and must go down as one of the greatest club sides ever.
