Top 12 points scorers in Heineken/Champions Cup history
Munster and Ireland legend Ronan O’Gara kicks for goal in the Heineken Cup
Credit: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
We all know a conversion or penalty goal can make the difference between silverware and defeat, heading back from an away trip with a smile on your face or a grimace.
Take the 2001 Heineken Cup Final where Diego Dominguez, the legendary Italy fly-half, kept Stade Francais in the game through his trusty right boot.
The Argentine contributed all the points himself in his team’s narrow 30-34 loss to Leicester Tigers in the Parc des Princes.
It is no coincidence that his haul of 188 points in that year remains a single-season record for the competition.
Many clutch moments can be traced back to a nervy penalty or conversion being knocked over as opposed to a stunning coast to coast try.
With this in mind, we decided to take a look into the top 12 points scorers in Heineken Cup/Champions Cup history with the full list below.
The * indicates the player is still playing.
12.) Neil Jenkins - 502
Neil Jenkins racked up over 200 appearances for Pontypridd
Credit: Simon Ridgway
Quite simply the don of British goal-kicking and a man who laid the benchmark for the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Biggar coming after him.
Jenkins still holds the record for the most points scored in a Wales shirt - 1,049 spread across 87 caps - and was a man you could put your house on to slot a crucial kick.
In 2001, the double British and Irish Lion became the first-ever player to break the 1,000 international barrier with a 28-point haul featuring a full house of a try, conversion, drop-goal, and penalty against France in Paris.
The Welshman’s career spanned both the amateur and professional era of the sport, racking up the points for Pontypridd, Cardiff and Celtic Warriors in the newly created Heineken Cup.
Despite his kicking being a major strength, he was a slippery runner who played on the gameline and was strong at throwing flat passes to unlock defences.
11.) David Skrela - 503
Perhaps the opposite to an archetypal “joue joue” running French fly-half. Skrela was, however, a very reliable kicker who was the pivot that allowed more talented players outside him to shine.
Turning out for European giants Stade Francais, Toulouse and Clermont, he scored over 500 points in the Heineken Cup and won the 2010 edition of the tournament.
He turned in “talismanic displays” in the quarter-final triumph over his former side Stade, according to ESPN, and against reigning champions Leinster in the last four.
In that final against Biarritz, he racked up three penalties and two drop goals as his team narrowly won 21-19.
Son of legendary Les Bleus flanker Jean-Claude, Skrela Jnr surprisingly only gained 23 caps in a stop-start international career which saw him compete with the likes of Frederic Michalak and Lionel Beauxis.
However, at club level, he was a solid performer who also won two Top 14 championships with Stade.
10.) Leigh Halfpenny - 523*
A three-time British and Irish Lion, Halfpenny is a modern Welsh great combining superb back three skills with an unerring boot.
On the international stage, his senior Wales debut came on the wing against South Africa in November 2008 while he was still a teenager.
His tremendous goal kicking helped Wales to secure a Grand Slam in 2012, slotting 66 points, and also featured in his team’s run to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup.
Halfpenny has also scored bagfuls of points in the Heineken Cup/Champions Cup for Cardiff Blues, Toulon and Scarlets across a glittering career.
Named Player of the Series in the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour, the back lifted the European Champions Cup in 2015 as Toulon beat Clermont 24-18 - with him slotting five successful kicks.
9.) David Humphreys - 564
Turns out Rugby 08 legend Humphreys was a damn fine player in his pomp, while his rivalry with Ronan O’Gara dominated Irish rugby in the early 2000s.
After turning professional with London Irish in 1995, he returned to his native Ulster in 1998 and immediately captained them to victory in the 1998-99 Heineken Cup.
Blessed with an excellent boot along with his distinctive blue scrum cap, he kicked a clutch 40m drop goal to win the 2005-06 Celtic League for Ulster before retiring two years later.
The Belfast man still holds the record for the most points in a single Heineken Cup/Champions Cup match with 37 against Wasps in 2002.
Humphreys has the honour of representing Ireland at A, U21, Schools and Test level after making his Ireland debut against France in 1996, gaining 72 caps in the process.
He also holds the most tries in this list, with 14 in the Heineken Cup during his long and successful career.
8.) Morgan Parra - 569*
You have to be pretty good to debut for France as a teenager - just ask Gael Fickou, Matthieu Jalibert and Romain Ntamack.
Parra also made his first appearance for Les Bleus at 19 way back in the 2008 Six Nations after bursting onto the scene with Bourgoin.
A typical French petit general, he moved to Clermont in 2009 where he struck up a partnership with Australian veteran Brock James as his outside half.
Morgan Parra slots another goal for Clermont
Credit: AFP Photo / Thierry Breton
He helped end the club’s title drought in 2010 after ten successive final defeats, before winning it again in 2017.
In the European arena, they have reached the Champions Cup/Heineken Cup three times - losing on each occasion.
Parra ended up top points scorer for the 2012-13 tournament as his side fell agonisingly short to Toulon. He is still turning out for Stade Francais but will retire, according to reports, at the end of the 2022/23 season.
7.) Dan Biggar - 634*
One of the most consistent performers for club and country in recent years, Biggar has 619 points across spells with Ospreys and Northampton Saints before his recent move to Toulon.
A double British and Irish Lion and nearing 100 Wales caps, he became the youngest Osprey to reach 100 regional appearances in April 2012 after debuting at the tender age of 18.
His haul of 1,573 points for the province is a franchise record and he made his Heineken Cup bow as a replacement against Leicester Tigers in 2008.
Deadly marksman Dan Biggar kicks for Northampton Saints
One of the games best under a high ball, he was part of a golden generation of Welsh talent with Sam Warburton, Rhys Webb, Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Justin Tipuric at the inaugural World Rugby U20 Championships.
Interestingly, he also holds the record for the fastest drop-goal in Rugby World Cup history with the referee signalling the score against Australia after 36 seconds in the 2019 tournament.
To fans outside rugby, he achieved fame for the “Biggarena” due to his unique kicking style - which he has moved away from now slightly.
6.) Diego Dominguez - 645
Quite simply, and this is no hyperbole, one of the coolest men alive. The blonde locks, the blue eyes, and the beautifully languid kicking style make Dominguez a rugby great.
Despite being Italy’s all-time record points scorer, his burgeoning rugby career started with his native Argentina as part of a Pumas squad that toured France in 1988.
After the tour, he played for a year in France before moving on to play in Milan.
Dominguez then made his Italian debut in March 1991 against France, featuring for the Azzurri at fly-half in three Rugby World Cups in 1991, 1995 and 1999.
Diego Dominguez drops for goal in the Six Nations
Credit: NPHO/Allsport
He is one of only seven players (Dan Carter, Jonny Wilkinson, Ronan O'Gara, Neil Jenkins, Owen Farrell and Florin Vlaicu) in history to have scored more than 1,000 international points.
At club level, as well as winning four Top 14 titles with Stade Francais, in the 2001 Heineken Cup Final mentioned above he amassed a whopping 30 points singlehanded - only to be on the losing side.
What Italy would give to have Dominguez in his pomp right now steering their talented squad in the Six Nations.
5.) Dimitri Yachvili - 661
The original Petit General who came before Baptiste Serin, Maxime Machenaud and Antoine Dupont in the famous blue number 9 jersey.
His emergence at a Biarittz team in 2002, who were Top 16 champions that year, coincided with a period of success for the Basque giants.
In his early years, he was considered a maverick for the national team - capable of brilliance and catastrophic errors in equal measure.
Who else would attempt this Cruyff esque backheel in rugby?
For his club, Yachvili was a staple of the Heineken Cup knockout rounds as he sat behind a fearsome pack including Imanol Harinordoquy, Serge Besten, Census Johnston and Jérôme Thion.
Biarritz secured back-to-back French titles in 2005 and 2006 - reaching the Heineken Cup Final the same year where they narrowly lost to a strong Munster team 23-19 at the Millennium Stadium.
It was the golden era of the great club, with Yachvili the beating heart at the middle of the Basque juggernaut before it fell into decline and ultimately relegation in 2013.
Despite a 2012 Challenge Cup victory vs Toulon, with Yachvili out kicking Jonny Wilkinson in a 21-18 arm wrestle in the final, they have languished in Pro D2 before finally winning promotion back to the French top flight last season.
4.) Jonathan Sexton - 784*
Approaching the twilight of his career, Sexton still remains as crucial to Leinster and Ireland as ever at 37 years young.
The metronomic fly-half came on the scene with a cameo performance for Leinster as the province beat fierce rivals Munster in the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final at Croke Park.
He stepped up following an injury to iconic Argentine Felipe Contepomi and guided Leinster into the final, which he started as his side won 19-16.
It is one of four Heineken Cup/Champions Cup titles in his glittering trophy cabinet, with one particularly sticking out in the memory of many fans.
Known as the Istanbul of rugby, in 2011 Sexton dragged Leinster from a 22-6 deficit at halftime to an improbable 33-22 victory in Cardiff in the final.
Throw in three Six Nations medals and two British and Irish Lions tours and you have one hell of a career.
3.) Owen Farrell - 814*
It’s hard to believe that Farrell has 94 England caps, is a three-time British and Irish Lions and has won countless honours with Saracens while still only being 31.
Given how many more years he has left in the tank, and the two-season hiatus Saracens have had from the Champions Cup, expect him to push even higher on this list in the near future.
A triple winner in the Champions Cup, the first came in 2016 as Sarries beat Racing 92 by a score of 21-9.
Farrell goes for the posts in January 2013 against Racing 92
Credit: Getty Images
All the points in that game came from his boot as he nervelessly slotted seven straight penalties to down the French side.
On his day he is a metronomic goalkicker you could put your house on while his game management and distribution of the ball is second to none.
2.) Stephen Jones - 869
A Wales legend, Jones was always Mr Reliable who never let his country down on the big stage.
He was a key figure in the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2005 and was among the best number 10s in the tournament.
Second only to Alun Wyn Jones and Gethin Jenkins, Jones has 104 caps for Wales and was selected in an astonishing four World Cups and two Lions tours.
On the domestic front, he started his career with Llanelli in 1996 and stayed with the club through the first season of regional rugby.
Jones transferred to French club Clermont Auvergne and starred in the Top 14 for two seasons before returning to the Scarlets in 2006.
He was part of the Scarlets team that powered to the Heineken Cup semi-finals in 2007 and he stayed there until 2012, before winding down with London Wasps in the Premiership.
Not the longest kicker off the tee, but anywhere inside the oppositions 10-metre line and he was lethal.
1.) Ronan O’Gara - 1,365
Head, shoulders and Marge Simpson’s hair above everyone else, ROG is one of Munster's greatest ever players.
He holds the record of being the all-time top points scorer in both the Heineken Cup and for Ireland, spread across 128 caps.
Much of his early years in the national team saw him vying with David Humphreys for the stand-off spot before his quality shone through.
Not many players get selected for three separate British and Irish Lions tours like O’Gara has been.
One of the best tactical out of hand kickers in the modern game, he started in the 2000 and 2002 Heineken Cup finals before losing to Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers respectively.
Victories would come in the 2006 and 2008 tournaments as Munster established themselves as a dominant European force in the 2000s.
His partnership with halfback Peter Stringer formed the backbone of the Ireland backline for years, culminating in a 2009 Six Nations Grand Slam.
A worthy claimant of the top spot, he looks set to remain at the pinnacle for several years yet.
