2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Twickenham Stadium hosted the final
Event 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup
Clermont Toulon
France France
18 24
Date 2 May 2015
Venue Twickenham Stadium, London
Man of the Match Ali Williams
Referee Nigel Owens (Wales)
Attendance 56,622

The 2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the first European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twentieth European club rugby final in general, as the competition replaces the Heineken Cup.

The final was played between the French clubs Clermont and Toulon at Twickenham Stadium on 2 May 2015.

Toulon won the final, beating Clermont by 24 points to 18.[1] This was the third successive win by Toulon of the top European club rugby competition.[2][3]

Background

In the Heineken Cup (1995–2014), Toulon won twice, the two last editions of the tournament (2013 and 2014). The first of those finals was also Clermont's only final, and Toulon won 16–15 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.[4] In 2014, Toulon won 23–6 against England's Saracens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.[5]

Venue and ticketing

Following a competitive tendering process, the tournament organisers, European Professional Club Rugby, announced in August 2014 that the final would be held in the 82,000 capacity Twickenham Stadium, London on May 2, 2015.[6] The scheduling makes it the earliest in the season that the European final has been held since the 1999 Heineken Cup Final, and is two weeks after the semi-finals are held, providing limited opportunity for supporters of the two finalists to make arrangements to attend.[7] Around 8000 supporters of the two clubs involved in the final travelled to Twickenham, with part of their allocations being returned.[8]

Efforts were made to try and boost attendance by offering free tickets to the final to those that purchased tickets to the Aviva Premiership final that was to be held in the same venue later in the month. However, a technical issue meant that the requirement to purchase the Premiership final tickets was not initially enforced, meaning customers could order only the free ticket and pay just a booking fee.[9]

Route to Final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

France Clermont Auvergne Round France Toulon
Opponent Result Pool stage Opponent Result
England Saracens 23–30 (A) Matchday 1 Wales Scarlets 28–18 (H)
England Sale Sharks 35–3 (H) Matchday 2 Ireland Ulster 23–13 (A)
Ireland Munster 16–9 (A) Matchday 3 England Leicester Tigers 21–25 (A)
Ireland Munster 26–19 (H) Matchday 4 England Leicester Tigers 23–8 (H)
England Sale Sharks 22–13 (A) Matchday 5 Ireland Ulster 60–22 (H)
England Saracens 18–6 (H) Matchday 6 Wales Scarlets 26–3 (A)
Pool 1 winner
Team
 P Pts
France Clermont 622
England Saracens 617
Ireland Munster 615
England Sale Sharks 62
 Final standings Pool 3 winner
Team
 P Pts
France Toulon 622
England Leicester Tigers 613
Ireland Ulster 612
Wales Scarlets 68
Opponent Result Knock-out stage Opponent Result
England Northampton Saints 37–5 (H) Quarter-finals England Wasps 32–18 (H)
England Saracens 13–9 (H) Semi-finals Ireland Leinster 25–20 (H)
(A.E.T.)

Clermont

In the pool stages, third-seeds Clermont topped Pool 1, winning five of six games. Their only defeat was their first game, losing 30–23 away to Saracens at Allianz Park on 18 October 2014.[10] After that, they defeated Munster and Sale Sharks home and away, and concluded on 15 January 2015 with an 18–6 victory over Saracens at the Stade Marcel Michelin.[11]

On 4 April in the quarter-finals, Clermont hosted English champions Northampton Saints and won 37–5.[12] Fourteen days later in the semi-finals they hosted Saracens, who had defeated them in the previous season's Heineken Cup semi-finals, and won 13–9. Wesley Fofana scored the only try of the match for Clermont, converted by Brock James, who also scored both of their penalties.[13]

Toulon

Seeded second, Toulon won Pool 3 with five victories and one defeat. Their one loss came away to Leicester Tigers on 7 December, 25–21.[14] In the quarter-finals, they triumphed 32–18 over Wasps at the Stade Mayol on 5 April, with tries by Mathieu Bastareaud and Ali Williams. Both were converted by Frédéric Michalak, who also scored all six of their penalties.[15] Two weeks later they won their semi-final 25–20 after extra time against Leinster at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The game finished 12–12 after 80 minutes, and in extra time both teams scored tries: Bryan Habana's for Toulon was converted by Leigh Halfpenny, but Séan O'Brien scored a late try for Leinster.[16]

Match

Details

2 May 2015
17:00 BST (UTC+01)
Clermont France 18–24 France Toulon
Try: Fofana 24' m
Abendanon 62' c
Con: Lopez (1/2) 62'
Pen: Lopez (2/2) 7', 12'
 Report[17] Try: Bastareaud 40' c
Mitchell 69' m
Con: Halfpenny (1/2) 40+2'
Pen: Halfpenny (4/5) 16', 28', 32', 51'
Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 56,622
Referee: Wales Nigel Owens (Wales)
FB15England Nick Abendanon
RW14France Noa Nakaitaci 67'
OC13Wales Jonathan Davies
IC12France Wesley Fofana
LW11Fiji Napolioni Nalaga 54'
FH10France Camille Lopez
SH9France Morgan Parra 56'
N88New Zealand Fritz Lee 54'
OF7France Damien Chouly (c)
BF6France Julien Bonnaire
RL5France Sebastien Vahaamahina 67'
LL4Canada Jamie Cudmore 10' 16' 57' to 65'
TP3Georgia (country) Davit Zirakashvili 66'
HK2France Benjamin Kayser 63'
LP1France Vincent Debaty 47'
Substitutions:
HK16Australia John Ulugia 63'
PR17France Thomas Domingo 47'
PR18France Clément Ric 66'
LK19France Julien Pierre 10' 16' 57' 65' 67'
FL20Portugal Julien Bardy 54'
SH21France Ludovic Radosavljevic 56'
FH22New Zealand Mike Delany 67'
CE23France Aurélien Rougerie 54'
Coach:
France Franck Azéma
FB15Wales Leigh Halfpenny
RW14Australia Drew Mitchell
OC13France Mathieu Bastareaud
IC12Argentina Juan Martin Hernandez 66'
LW11South Africa Bryan Habana
FH10Australia Matt Giteau
SH9France Sébastien Tillous-Borde
N88New Zealand Chris Masoe
OF7England Steffon Armitage
BF6South Africa Juan Smith 58'
RL5New Zealand Ali Williams
LL4South Africa Bakkies Botha 47'
TP3New Zealand Carl Hayman (c) 63' 76'
HK2France Guilhem Guirado 63'
LP1France Xavier Chiocci 48'
Substitutions:
HK16France Jean-Charles Orioli 63'
PR17France Alexandre Menini 48'
PR18Georgia (country) Levan Chilachava 63' 76'
LK19Argentina Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe 58'
FL20France Virgile Bruni
CE21New Zealand Rudi Wulf 66'
SH22France Frédéric Michalak
LK23France Romain Taofifenua 47'
Coach:
France Bernard Laporte

Man of the Match:
New Zealand Ali Williams (Toulon)

Touch judges:
Ireland George Clancy (Ireland)
England Wayne Barnes (England)
Television match official:
England Graham Hughes (England)

References

  1. ↑ "Mitchell stunner ensures Toulon complete historic treble". ESPN. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Toulon beat Clermont Auvergne to win first European Rugby Champions Cup". Guardian. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Toulon secure hat-trick". BBC Sport. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Heineken Cup final: Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16: match report". Daily Telegraph. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Champions of Europe". European Professional Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Twickenham to host inaugural European Champions Cup final". The Irish Times. 2014-08-12.
  7. ↑ James, Steve (2015-04-25). "European Champions Cup final too soon, admits EPCR chief". The Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Kitson, Robert (2015-04-20). "European Champions Cup organisers fear half-empty Twickenham final". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Simon (2015-04-28). "Has rugby's new European Champions Cup worked? Simon Thomas investigates amid thrilling rugby and a ticket fiasco". Wales Online.
  10. ↑ Standley, James (18 October 2014). "European Rugby Champions Cup: Saracens beat Clermont Auvergne". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Aylwin, Michael (18 January 2015). "Saracens through after defeat by Clermont but tough away day awaits". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "European Champions Cup: Clermont 37-5 Northampton". BBC Sport. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Standley, James (18 April 2015). "European Champions Cup: Clermont Auvergne 13-9 Saracens". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  14. ↑ Standley, James (7 December 2014). "European Rugby Champions Cup: Toulon 23-8 Leicester". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  15. ↑ Standley, James (5 April 2015). "European Rugby Champions Cup: Toulon 32-18 Wasps". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Standley, James (19 April 2015). "European Champions Cup: Toulon 25-20 Leinster (aet)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2017.

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