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List of European Rugby Champions Cup finals

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(Redirected from Heineken Cup Final)

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)

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.

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 France Toulouse§ 21–18 Wales Cardiff Wales Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 21,800 Ireland David McHugh (Ireland)
1996–97 France Brive 28–9 England Leicester Tigers 41,664 Wales Derek Bevan (Wales)
1997–98 England Bath 19–18 France Brive France Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 36,500 Scotland Jim Fleming (Scotland)
1998–99 Ireland Ulster 21–6 France Colomiers Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 49,000 Wales Clayton Thomas (Wales)
1999–2000 England Northampton Saints 9–8 Ireland Munster England Twickenham, London 68,441 France Joël Dumé (France)
2000–01 England Leicester Tigers§ 34–30 France Stade Français France Parc des Princes, Paris 44,000 Ireland David McHugh (Ireland)
2001–02 England Leicester Tigers§ 15–9 Ireland Munster Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,600 France Joël Jutge (France)
2002–03 France Toulouse 22–17 France Perpignan Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 28,600 England Tony Spreadbury (England)[a]
2003–04 England London Wasps§ 27–20 France Toulouse England Twickenham, London 73,057 Ireland Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2004–05 France Toulouse 18–12 France Stade Français Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh 51,326 England Chris White (England)
2005–06 Ireland Munster 23–19 France Biarritz Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,534
2006–07 England London Wasps 25–9 England Leicester Tigers England Twickenham, London 81,076 Ireland Alan Lewis (Ireland)
2007–08 Ireland Munster 16–13 France Toulouse Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,500 Wales Nigel Owens (Wales)
2008–09 Ireland Leinster 19–16 England Leicester Tigers Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh 66,523
2009–10 France Toulouse 21–19 France Biarritz France Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,962 England Wayne Barnes (England)
2010–11 Ireland Leinster 33–22 England Northampton Saints Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 72,456 France Romain Poite (France)
2011–12 Ireland Leinster 42–14 Ireland Ulster England Twickenham, London 81,774 Wales Nigel Owens (Wales)
2012–13 France Toulon 16–15 France Clermont Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 50,198 Ireland Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2013–14 France Toulon§ 23–6 England Saracens Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 67,586
Champions Cup era
2014–15 France Toulon 24–18 France Clermont England Twickenham, London 56,622 Wales Nigel Owens (Wales)
2015–16 England Saracens§ 21–9 France Racing 92 France Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon 58,017
2016–17 England Saracens 28–17 France Clermont Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh 55,272
2017–18 Ireland Leinster§ 15–12 France Racing 92 Spain San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao 52,282 England Wayne Barnes (England)
2018–19 England Saracens§ 20–10 Ireland Leinster England St James' Park, Newcastle 51,930 France Jérôme Garcès (France)
2019–20 England Exeter Chiefs§ 31–27 France Racing 92 England Ashton Gate, Bristol 0 Wales Nigel Owens (Wales)
2020–21 France Toulouse§ 22–17 France La Rochelle England Twickenham Stadium, London 10,000 England Luke Pearce (England)
2021–22 France La Rochelle 24–21 Ireland Leinster France Orange Vélodrome, Marseille 59,682 England Wayne Barnes (England)
2022–23 France La Rochelle 27–26 Ireland Leinster Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 51,711 South Africa Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
2023–24 France Toulouse 31–22 Ireland Leinster England Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London 61,531 England 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
France Toulouse 6 2 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2020–21, 2023–24 2003–04, 2007–08
Ireland Leinster 4 4 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2017–18 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
England Saracens 3 1 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 2013–14
France Toulon 3 0 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
England Leicester Tigers 2 3 2000–01, 2001–02 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09
Ireland Munster 2 2 2005–06, 2007–08 1999–00, 2001–02
France La Rochelle 2 1 2021–22, 2022–23 2020–21
England Wasps 2 0 2003–04, 2006–07
France Brive 1 1 1996–97 1997–98
Ireland Ulster 1 1 1998–99 2011–12
England Northampton Saints 1 1 1999–00 2010–11
England Bath 1 0 1997–98
England Exeter Chiefs 1 0 2019–20
France Clermont 0 3 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17
France Racing 92 0 3 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20
France Stade Français 0 2 2000–01, 2004–05
France Biarritz 0 2 2005–06, 2009–10
Wales Cardiff 0 1 1995–96
France Colomiers 0 1 1998–99
France 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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