Wikipedia

List of European Rugby Champions Cup finals

(Redirected from Heineken Cup finals)

The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union competition for European clubs whose countries compete in the Six Nations Championship. Introduced in 2014, the competition replaced the Heineken Cup, which had been run by European Rugby Cup (ERC) since 1995, following disagreements between its shareholders over the structure and governance of the competition.

List of European Rugby Champions Cup finals
Current season or competition:
2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
SportRugby union
Instituted1995
Number of teams24
CountryInternational club (European Professional Club Rugby)
HoldersFrance Toulouse (2023–24)
Most titlesFrance Toulouse (6 titles)

It is organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), with teams qualifying via their final positions in their respective national/cross-border leagues (Premiership, Top 14, and Pro14). The winners of the first final were French team Toulouse, who beat Welsh side Cardiff 21–18 after extra time.

20 teams initially compete in five separate pools. The top eight teams from the pools progress to the knockout stage. If the score in a knockout match is a draw after 80 minutes of regular play, an additional 20-minute period of play, called extra time, is added. If the score remains tied, an additional 10 minutes of sudden-death extra time are played, with the first team to score points immediately declared the winner. If no team is able to break the tie during extra time, the winner is ultimately decided by a penalty shootout. As well as the first final, the 2005 final between French teams Toulouse and Stade Français went to extra time, which Toulouse won 18–12.[1]

Toulouse are the most successful team in the history of the tournament, with six wins. Leinster have won the competition four times, while Toulon and Saracens are third with three wins. Toulon are the only team to have won three consecutive tournaments, from 2013 to 2015. Three teams have played in more than one final and failed to win any of them – Clermont and Racing 92 three times, Stade Français and Biarritz twice. No teams from Scotland and Italy have progressed to the final.

The 2017–18 final was held in Bilbao, marking the first time that the final was contested in a country without a team participating in the competition. The 2020–21 final was relocated from Marseille to London.[2] and the 2021–22 final was held in Marseille instead.[3]

Finals

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Key
† Match was won during extra time
§ Team also won domestic league
Heineken Cup era
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Referee
1995–96   Toulouse§ 21–18†   Cardiff   Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 21,800   David McHugh (Ireland)
1996–97   Brive 28–9   Leicester Tigers 41,664   Derek Bevan (Wales)
1997–98   Bath 19–18   Brive   Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 36,500   Jim Fleming (Scotland)
1998–99   Ulster 21–6   Colomiers   Lansdowne Road, Dublin 49,000   Clayton Thomas (Wales)
1999–2000   Northampton Saints 9–8   Munster   Twickenham, London 68,441   Joël Dumé (France)
2000–01   Leicester Tigers§ 34–30   Stade Français   Parc des Princes, Paris 44,000   David McHugh (Ireland)
2001–02   Leicester Tigers§ 15–9   Munster   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,600   Joël Jutge (France)
2002–03   Toulouse 22–17   Perpignan   Lansdowne Road, Dublin 28,600   Tony Spreadbury (England)[a]
2003–04   London Wasps§ 27–20   Toulouse   Twickenham, London 73,057   Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2004–05   Toulouse 18–12†   Stade Français   Murrayfield, Edinburgh 51,326   Chris White (England)
2005–06   Munster 23–19   Biarritz   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,534
2006–07   London Wasps 25–9   Leicester Tigers   Twickenham, London 81,076   Alan Lewis (Ireland)
2007–08   Munster 16–13   Toulouse   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,500   Nigel Owens (Wales)
2008–09   Leinster 19–16   Leicester Tigers   Murrayfield, Edinburgh 66,523
2009–10   Toulouse 21–19   Biarritz   Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,962   Wayne Barnes (England)
2010–11   Leinster 33–22   Northampton Saints   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 72,456   Romain Poite (France)
2011–12   Leinster 42–14   Ulster   Twickenham, London 81,774   Nigel Owens (Wales)
2012–13   Toulon 16–15   Clermont   Aviva Stadium, Dublin 50,198   Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2013–14   Toulon§ 23–6   Saracens   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 67,586
Champions Cup era
2014–15   Toulon 24–18   Clermont   Twickenham, London 56,622   Nigel Owens (Wales)
2015–16   Saracens§ 21–9   Racing 92   Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon 58,017
2016–17   Saracens 28–17   Clermont   Murrayfield, Edinburgh 55,272
2017–18   Leinster§ 15–12   Racing 92   San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao 52,282   Wayne Barnes (England)
2018–19   Saracens§ 20–10   Leinster   St James' Park, Newcastle 51,930   Jérôme Garcès (France)
2019–20   Exeter Chiefs§ 31–27   Racing 92   Ashton Gate, Bristol 0   Nigel Owens (Wales)
2020–21   Toulouse§ 22–17   La Rochelle   Twickenham Stadium, London 10,000   Luke Pearce (England)
2021–22   La Rochelle 24–21   Leinster   Orange Vélodrome, Marseille 59,682   Wayne Barnes (England)
2022–23   La Rochelle 27–26   Leinster   Aviva Stadium, Dublin 51,711   Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
2023–24   Toulouse 31–22†   Leinster   Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London 61,531   Matthew Carley (England)

Performances

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By club

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Club Champions Runners-up Years as champions Years as runners-up
  Toulouse        6 2 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2020–21, 2023–24 2003–04, 2007–08
  Leinster      4 4 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2017–18 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
  Saracens     3 1 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 2013–14
  Toulon     3 0 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 —
  Leicester Tigers    2 3 2000–01, 2001–02 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09
  Munster    2 2 2005–06, 2007–08 1999–00, 2001–02
  La Rochelle    2 1 2021–22, 2022–23 2020–21
  Wasps    2 0 2003–04, 2006–07 —
  Brive   1 1 1996–97 1997–98
  Ulster   1 1 1998–99 2011–12
  Northampton Saints   1 1 1999–00 2010–11
  Bath   1 0 1997–98 —
  Exeter Chiefs   1 0 2019–20 —
  Clermont 0 3 — 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17
  Racing 92 0 3 — 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20
  Stade Français 0 2 — 2000–01, 2004–05
  Biarritz 0 2 — 2005–06, 2009–10
  Cardiff 0 1 — 1995–96
  Colomiers 0 1 — 1998–99
  Perpignan 0 1 — 2002–03

Player of the Match Award

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The following players have been named the Player of the Match in European cup finals since 2005:[4][5][6][7][8]

Notes

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  1. ^ Chris White (England) started the 2001 Heineken Cup final as referee, before withdrawing in the 12th minute due to injury, to be replaced by reserve official Tony Spreadbury (England).

References

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  1. ^ "Stade Francais 12–18 Toulouse". BBC Sport. 22 May 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Marseille to host 2021 European Champions Cup final". The Irish Times. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  3. ^ "EPCR statement – 2021 Marseille finals and semi-final matches". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  4. ^ "Waters reduces Tigers' wingers to a rabble without a cause". The Guardian. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Rocky: A Leinster blockbuster". Irish Examiner. 25 May 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Williams happy with Twickenham final". EPCR. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  7. ^ "The rampant rise of Maro Itoje". Rugby World. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  8. ^ "James Ryan's maturity makes difference in game of fine margins". The Times. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
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