The Heineken Cup Final

Heineken Cup logo
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The Heineken Cup wrapped up yesterday in Dublin with it's title game. After starting in October with 24 teams, one team was left standing after yesterday's title game. The two teams in the final were from the Top 14 (top rugby union league in French). They were Clermont and Toulon. Neither team had won the title before, which added even more intrigue to the game. The game ended up being a great match that will go down as an all-time classic. 

Both teams had a few bumps on the road to the final. Clermont was the top team in Pool 5 by a mile.  They were 6-0 with a +149 point differential. That is an outstanding accomplishment. Only once did a team lose by less then five. That gave them the second seed in the knockout round. Toulon was also a top team in their pool, Pool 6. They had five wins and a loss with a +109 point differential. They were the fourth seed in the knock round. The knockout round started in the quarterfinals with Clermont facing fellow Top 14 team Montpellier and Toulon against Leicester. Clermont destroyed Montepellier 36-14, while Toulon  defeated Leicester 21-15. In the semi's, Clermont beat Munster 16-10 and Toulon won against Saracens. That set up the all-French final. 

Morgan Parra
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Clermont got the scoring started quickly into the game. Four minutes in, Scrum Half Morgan Parra had a kick at goal from behind the ten-meter line. That gave Clermont the early 3-0 lead. Parra ended up being the leader in the tournament in points with 115. He got these points from 24 kicks at goal, one try, and 19 conversions. Ten minutes later, Jonny Wilkinson tied the game at 3. Wilkinson was second to Parra in the points race with 108, 30 of kicks at goal and nine as a result of conversions. After that, no one could score for the rest of the half. After 40 minutes of play, the score was 3-3. 

Two minutes into the second half, Clermont's Left Wing Napolioni Nalaga gets a pass and runs down the sideline and just gets into the In-Goal for the try. However, due to the location of the try, Parra's conversion attempt was taken from about a foot off of a left sideline. He missed the attempt. This would come back to haunt Clermont.

Just four minutes later, in the 46th minute, Jonny Wilkinson hits a kick at goal to make the score 8-6.  Just two minutes later, Clermont extended their lead when Brock James got a try and Parra converted the conversion. 

Armitage and Wilkinson celebrate the title
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With 60 minutes done, Clermont were in control. Then, Jonny Wilkinson converted a kick at goal for three points. This brought the score to be with in six. Then in the 64th minute, Nalaga turned the ball over to Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, who the passed the ball to Delon Armitage. Armitage had an open field ahead of him and ran it into the In-Goal for the the try. Jonny Wilkinson then converted the try. Toulon took the lead 16-15.


When the final whistle blew, Clermont won the possession game (68% to 32%), line-outs (14-10), and rucks won (119-42). They were the better team, but, they lost the match, 16-15. The Man of the Match was Outside Centre Mathieu Bastaraud. After the win, Wilkinson won the ERC European Player of the Year. This is Toulon's first ever Heineken Cup championship. This  victory comes after being second in the 2010 and 2012 European Challenge Cup Finals.