2016 European Rugby Champions Cup final

The 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-first European club rugby final in general. It was contested by French side Racing 92, and Saracens of England, at the Grand Stade de Lyon, in the Lyon suburb of Décines, France, on Saturday 14 May 2016.

2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Event2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup
Date14 May 2016
VenueGrand Stade de Lyon, Lyon
Man of the MatchMaro Itoje (Saracens)
RefereeNigel Owens (Wales)
Attendance58,017
2015
2017

Saracens defeated Racing 92 by 21 points to 9. This was the first European Cup win for Saracens, making them the first new champions since Toulon, whose first victory in what was then known as the Heineken Cup came in 2013.[1]

Background

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Prior to the draw for the 2015–16 tournament, it was announced that Lyon would host the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup and Champions Cup finals at the newly built Grand Stade de Lyon, while the 2017 finals would be held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2] Two weeks before the match, Nigel Owens was chosen to referee the final.[3] This was Racing's first European Cup final, while Saracens were previously defeated by Toulon in the 2014 Heineken Cup Final.[4] The two teams last met in the tournament the previous season, with Saracens having defeated Racing 92 at the quarter-final stage with a last-minute penalty kick.[5]

Route to the final

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

  Racing 92 Round   Saracens
Opponent Result Pool stage Opponent Result
  Glasgow Warriors[a] 34–10 (H) Matchday 1   Toulouse 32–7 (H)
  Scarlets 29–12 (A) Matchday 2   Ulster 27–9 (A)
  Northampton Saints 33–3 (H) Matchday 3   Oyonnax 45–10 (A)
  Northampton Saints 9–9 (A) Matchday 4   Oyonnax 55–13 (H)
  Scarlets 64–14 (H) Matchday 5   Ulster 33–17 (H)
  Glasgow Warriors 5–22 (A) Matchday 6   Toulouse 28–17 (A)
Pool 3 winner
Team P Pts
  Racing 92 6 22
  Northampton Saints 6 19
  Glasgow Warriors 6 14
  Scarlets 6 2
Final standings Pool 1 winner
Team P Pts
  Saracens 6 28
  Ulster 6 18
  Oyonnax 6 7
  Toulouse 6 5
Opponent Result Knock-out stage Opponent Result
  Toulon 19–16 (H) Quarter-finals   Northampton Saints 29–20 (H)
  Leicester Tigers 19–16 (A) Semi-finals   Wasps 24–17 (H)

Racing 92

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In the pool stages, fifth-seeds Racing 92 topped Pool 3, winning four of six games. Their first match with Glasgow Warriors was postponed for two months due to the November 2015 Paris attacks, but they went on to win their first two fixtures. After drawing 9–9 with Northampton Saints and winning the postponed match 34–10, Racing 92 inflicted a heavy 64–14 away defeat on the Scarlets. Racing lost their final match 22–5 away at against the Warriors, which was relocated from Scotstoun Stadium to Rugby Park due to heavy rainfall.

On April 10, in the quarter-finals, Racing 92 hosted Toulon at Stade Yves-du-Manoir and narrowly won by 19–16. Two weeks later, they won in the semi-finals by the same scoreline against Leicester Tigers at City Ground in Nottingham, England.

Saracens

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Seeded first, Saracens won Pool 1 after winning all six of their matches. In the quarter-finals, they won 29–20 against Northampton Saints at Allianz Park on 9 April, with tries from Chris Ashton and Chris Wyles. Both were converted by Owen Farrell, who also scored all five of their penalties. Two weeks later, Saracens won their semi-final 24–17 against Wasps at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, England.

Match

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Summary

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The game was played mostly during a heavy rain storm, and featured no tries. Racing 92 scrum-half Maxime Machenaud missed an early penalty kick, allowing Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell to score first, hitting a drop goal from close range to give the Saracens a 3–0 lead. After winning a scrum deep in the Saracens half, Racing 92 outside-centre Johan Goosen drew the score level 3–3 at 17 minutes. Machenaud was removed from play under concussion regulations on 22 minutes.[6] Farrell scored on a two successive penalties to make the score 9–3 in favour of Saracens. Just before the end of the half, Goosen and Farrell traded penalties to make the score 12–6.[7]

Racing 92 fly-half Dan Carter was substituted shortly after half-time, having aggravated his leg injury.[8] Farrell scored another penalty early in the second half to extend the lead to 15–6. As Racing 92 became more aggressive following the 60 minute mark, Goosen scored his third penalty of the game to bring the score to 15–9. Farrell would preserve the lead for Saracens, by scoring two more penalties; once in the 76th minute, and once in the 79th minute for a final score of 21–9 in favour of Saracens.[9]

Saracens lock Maro Itoje was named Man of the Match, and he also received the European Player of the Year award.[10] Saracens became the first team to win the competition with a 100 per cent win rate across all of their matches.[11]

Details

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14 May 2016
17:45
Racing 92  9–21  Saracens
Pen: Goosen (3/3) 18', 36', 58'Report[11]Pen: Farrell (7/7) 10', 25', 32', 39', 51', 76', 79'
Grand Stade de Lyon, Lyon
Attendance: 58,017
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
FB 15   Brice Dulin
RW 14   Joe Rokocoko
OC 13   Johan Goosen
IC 12   Alexandre Dumoulin   57'
LW 11   Juan Imhoff
FH 10   Dan Carter   42'
SH 9   Maxime Machenaud   22'
N8 8   Chris Masoe
OF 7   Bernard Le Roux   77'
BF 6   Wenceslas Lauret
RL 5   François van der Merwe   66'
LL 4   Luke Charteris
TP 3   Ben Tameifuna   68'
HK 2   Dimitri Szarzewski (c)   66'
LP 1   Eddy Ben Arous   76'
Substitutions:
HK 16   Virgile Lacombe   66'
PR 17   Khatchik Vartanov   76'
PR 18   Luc Ducalcon   68'
LK 19   Manuel Carizza   66'
N8 20   Antonie Claassen   77'
SH 21   Mike Phillips   22'
FH 22   Rémi Talès   42'
CE 23   Henry Chavancy   57'
Coach:
  Laurent Labit   Laurent Travers
FB 15   Alex Goode
RW 14   Chris Ashton
OC 13   Duncan Taylor   77'
IC 12   Brad Barritt (c)
LW 11   Chris Wyles
FH 10   Owen Farrell   80'
SH 9   Richard Wigglesworth   80'
N8 8   Billy Vunipola   43'   51'
OF 7   Will Fraser
BF 6   Michael Rhodes   55'
RL 5   George Kruis
LL 4   Maro Itoje   80'
TP 3   Petrus du Plessis   68'
HK 2   Schalk Brits   22'   31'   52'
LP 1   Mako Vunipola   77'
Substitutions:
HK 16   Jamie George   22'   31'   52'
PR 17   Richard Barrington   77'
PR 18   Juan Figallo   68'
LK 19   Jim Hamilton   80'
FL 20   Jackson Wray   43'   51'   55'
SH 21   Ben Spencer   80'
FH 22   Charlie Hodgson   80'
CE 23   Marcelo Bosch   77'
Coach:
  Mark McCall

Man of the Match:
  Maro Itoje (Saracens)[12]

Assistant referees:
  George Clancy (Ireland)
  Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official:
  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Notes

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  1. ^ Due to the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on 13 November 2015, the Round 1 match between Racing 92 v Glasgow Warriors was postponed from 14 November 2015 to 9 January 2016.

References

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  1. ^ "Racing 9 Saracens 21: Saracens crowned European champions". The Daily Telegraph. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Lyon to host 2016 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals with Edinburgh chosen for 2017". European Professional Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  3. ^ "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. ^ "European Rugby Champions Cup final: Racing 92 9–21 Saracens – as it happened". The Guardian. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  5. ^ Lagacherie, Bertrand (14 May 2016). "Finale de la Coupe d'Europe : Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92) aura les clés contre les Saracens". L'Equipe (in French). Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Maxime Machenaud sort après un choc". L'Equipe (in French). 14 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Match Report". European Professional Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Carter concedes defeat to injury". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  9. ^ Standley, James (14 May 2016). "Saracens beat Racing 92 to win first European Champions Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Maro Itoje named European Player of the Year". Sky Sports. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  11. ^ a b "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Maro Itoje of Saracens named European Player of the Year". ESPN. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.