2015 European Rugby Champions Cup final

Last updated
2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Stade de Twickenham a Londres.jpg
Twickenham Stadium hosted the final
Event 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup
Clermont Toulon
Flag of France.svg Flag of France.svg
1824
Date2 May 2015
Venue Twickenham Stadium, London
Man of the Match Ali Williams (Toulon)
Referee Nigel Owens (Wales)
Attendance56,622
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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.

Contents

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 2 May 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).

Flag of France.svg Clermont Auvergne Round Flag of France.svg Toulon
OpponentResult Pool stage OpponentResult
Flag of England.svg Saracens 23–30 (A)Matchday 1 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Scarlets 28–18 (H)
Flag of England.svg Sale Sharks 35–3 (H)Matchday 2 IRFU flag.svg Ulster 23–13 (A)
IRFU flag.svg Munster 16–9 (A)Matchday 3 Flag of England.svg Leicester Tigers 21–25 (A)
IRFU flag.svg Munster 26–19 (H)Matchday 4 Flag of England.svg Leicester Tigers 23–8 (H)
Flag of England.svg Sale Sharks 22–13 (A)Matchday 5 IRFU flag.svg Ulster 60–22 (H)
Flag of England.svg Saracens 18–6 (H)Matchday 6 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Scarlets 26–3 (A)
Pool 1 winner
TeamPPts
Flag of France.svg Clermont 622
Flag of England.svg Saracens 617
IRFU flag.svg Munster 615
Flag of England.svg Sale Sharks 62
Final standings Pool 3 winner
TeamPPts
Flag of France.svg Toulon 622
Flag of England.svg Leicester Tigers 613
IRFU flag.svg Ulster 612
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Scarlets 68
OpponentResult Knock-out stage OpponentResult
Flag of England.svg Northampton Saints 37–5 (H)Quarter-finals Flag of England.svg Wasps 32–18 (H)
Flag of England.svg Saracens 13–9 (H)Semi-finals IRFU flag.svg 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

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Kit right arm cruzeiropb13a.png
Kit right arm.svg
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Clermont
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Toulon

Details

2 May 2015
17:00 BST (UTC+01)
Clermont Flag of France.svg 18–24 Flag of France.svg 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: Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Nigel Owens (Wales)
FB15 Flag of England.svg Nick Abendanon
RW14 Flag of France.svg Noa Nakaitaci Sub off.svg 67'
OC13 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Jonathan Davies
IC12 Flag of France.svg Wesley Fofana
LW11 Flag of Fiji.svg Napolioni Nalaga Sub off.svg 54'
FH10 Flag of France.svg Camille Lopez
SH9 Flag of France.svg Morgan Parra Sub off.svg 56'
N88 Flag of New Zealand.svg Fritz Lee Sub off.svg 54'
OF7 Flag of France.svg Damien Chouly (c)
BF6 Flag of France.svg Julien Bonnaire
RL5 Flag of France.svg Sebastien Vahaamahina Sub off.svg 67'
LL4 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jamie Cudmore Sub off.svg 10'Sub on.svg 16'Cruz Roja.svg 57' to 65'
TP3 Flag of Georgia.svg Davit Zirakashvili Sub off.svg 66'
HK2 Flag of France.svg Benjamin Kayser Sub off.svg 63'
LP1 Flag of France.svg Vincent Debaty Sub off.svg 47'
Substitutions:
HK16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Ulugia Sub on.svg 63'
PR17 Flag of France.svg Thomas Domingo Sub on.svg 47'
PR18 Flag of France.svg Clément Ric Sub on.svg 66'
LK19 Flag of France.svg Julien Pierre Sub on.svg 10'Sub off.svg 16'Sub on.svg 57'Sub off.svg 65'Sub on.svg 67'
FL20 Flag of Portugal.svg Julien Bardy Sub on.svg 54'
SH21 Flag of France.svg Ludovic Radosavljevic Sub on.svg 56'
FH22 Flag of New Zealand.svg Mike Delany Sub on.svg 67'
CE23 Flag of France.svg Aurélien Rougerie Sub on.svg 54'
Coach:
Flag of France.svg Franck Azéma
FB15 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Leigh Halfpenny
RW14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Drew Mitchell
OC13 Flag of France.svg Mathieu Bastareaud
IC12 Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Martín Hernández Sub off.svg 66'
LW11 Flag of South Africa.svg Bryan Habana
FH10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Giteau
SH9 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Tillous-Borde
N88 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Masoe
OF7 Flag of England.svg Steffon Armitage
BF6 Flag of South Africa.svg Juan Smith Sub off.svg 58'
RL5 Flag of New Zealand.svg Ali Williams
LL4 Flag of South Africa.svg Bakkies Botha Sub off.svg 47'
TP3 Flag of New Zealand.svg Carl Hayman (c)Sub off.svg 63'Sub on.svg 76'
HK2 Flag of France.svg Guilhem Guirado Sub off.svg 63'
LP1 Flag of France.svg Xavier Chiocci Sub off.svg 48'
Substitutions:
HK16 Flag of France.svg Jean-Charles Orioli Sub on.svg 63'
PR17 Flag of France.svg Alexandre Menini Sub on.svg 48'
PR18 Flag of Georgia.svg Levan Chilachava Sub on.svg 63'Sub off.svg 76'
LK19 Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe Sub on.svg 58'
FL20 Flag of France.svg Virgile Bruni
CE21 Flag of New Zealand.svg Rudi Wulf Sub on.svg 66'
SH22 Flag of France.svg Frédéric Michalak
LK23 Flag of France.svg Romain Taofifenua Sub on.svg 47'
Coach:
Flag of France.svg Bernard Laporte

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

Touch judges:
IRFU flag.svg George Clancy (Ireland)
Flag of England.svg Wayne Barnes (England)
Television match official:
Flag of England.svg Graham Hughes (England)

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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. 12 August 2014.
  7. ↑ James, Steve (25 April 2015). "European Champions Cup final too soon, admits EPCR chief". The Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Kitson, Robert (20 April 2015). "European Champions Cup organisers fear half-empty Twickenham final". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Simon (28 April 2015). "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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