2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
# 2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

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.

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. This was the third successive win by Toulon of the top European club rugby competition.

## 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. In 2014, Toulon won 23–6 against England's Saracens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

## 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 May 2, 2015. 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. Around 8000 supporters of the two clubs involved in the final travelled to Twickenham, with part of their allocations being returned.

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.

## Route to Final

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

| Clermont Auvergne | Clermont Auvergne | Round | Toulon | Toulon |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponent | Result | Pool stage | Opponent | Result |
| Saracens | 23–30 (A) | Matchday 1 | Scarlets | 28–18 (H) |
| Sale Sharks | 35–3 (H) | Matchday 2 | Ulster | 23–13 (A) |
| Munster | 16–9 (A) | Matchday 3 | Leicester Tigers | 21–25 (A) |
| Munster | 26–19 (H) | Matchday 4 | Leicester Tigers | 23–8 (H) |
| Sale Sharks | 22–13 (A) | Matchday 5 | Ulster | 60–22 (H) |
| Saracens | 18–6 (H) | Matchday 6 | Scarlets | 26–3 (A) |
| Pool 1 winner Team P Pts Clermont 622 Saracens 617 Munster 615 Sale Sharks 62 | Pool 1 winner Team P Pts Clermont 622 Saracens 617 Munster 615 Sale Sharks 62 | Final standings | Pool 3 winner Team P Pts Toulon 622 Leicester Tigers 613 Ulster 612 Scarlets 68 | Pool 3 winner Team P Pts Toulon 622 Leicester Tigers 613 Ulster 612 Scarlets 68 |
| Opponent | Result | Knock-out stage | Opponent | Result |
| Northampton Saints | 37–5 (H) | Quarter-finals | Wasps | 32–18 (H) |
| Saracens | 13–9 (H) | Semi-finals | 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. 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.

On 4 April in the quarter-finals, Clermont hosted English champions Northampton Saints and won 37–5. 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.

### 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. 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. 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.

## Match

### Details

* 2 May 2015 17:00 BST (UTC+01)

| Clermont | 18–24 | Toulon |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Fofana 24' m Abendanon 62' c Con: Lopez (1/2) 62' Pen: Lopez (2/2) 7', 12' | Report | 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: Nigel Owens (Wales)

| FB | 15 | Nick Abendanon |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Noa Nakaitaci | 67' |
| OC | 13 | Jonathan Davies |
| IC | 12 | Wesley Fofana |
| LW | 11 | Napolioni Nalaga | 54' |
| FH | 10 | Camille Lopez |
| SH | 9 | Morgan Parra | 56' |
| N8 | 8 | Fritz Lee | 54' |
| OF | 7 | Damien Chouly (c) |
| BF | 6 | Julien Bonnaire |
| RL | 5 | Sebastien Vahaamahina | | | | | 67' |
| LL | 4 | Jamie Cudmore | 10' | 16' | 57' to 65' | 57' to 65' |
| TP | 3 | Davit Zirakashvili | 66' |
| HK | 2 | Benjamin Kayser | 63' |
| LP | 1 | Vincent Debaty | 47' |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | John Ulugia | 63' |
| PR | 17 | Thomas Domingo | 47' |
| PR | 18 | Clément Ric | 66' |
| LK | 19 | Julien Pierre | 10' | 16' | 57' | 65' | 67' |
| FL | 20 | Julien Bardy | 54' |
| SH | 21 | Ludovic Radosavljevic | 56' |
| FH | 22 | Mike Delany | 67' |
| CE | 23 | Aurélien Rougerie | 54' |
| Coach: ||
| Franck Azéma ||
| FB | 15 | Leigh Halfpenny |
| RW | 14 | Drew Mitchell |
| OC | 13 | Mathieu Bastareaud |
| IC | 12 | Juan Martín Hernández | 66' |
| LW | 11 | Bryan Habana |
| FH | 10 | Matt Giteau |
| SH | 9 | Sébastien Tillous-Borde |
| N8 | 8 | Chris Masoe |
| OF | 7 | Steffon Armitage |
| BF | 6 | Juan Smith | 58' |
| RL | 5 | Ali Williams |
| LL | 4 | Bakkies Botha | 47' |
| TP | 3 | Carl Hayman (c) | 63' | 76' |
| HK | 2 | Guilhem Guirado | 63' |
| LP | 1 | Xavier Chiocci | 48' |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Jean-Charles Orioli | 63' |
| PR | 17 | Alexandre Menini | 48' |
| PR | 18 | Levan Chilachava | 63' | 76' |
| LK | 19 | Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe | 58' |
| FL | 20 | Virgile Bruni |
| CE | 21 | Rudi Wulf | 66' |
| SH | 22 | Frédéric Michalak |
| LK | 23 | Romain Taofifenua | 47' |
| Coach: ||
| Bernard Laporte ||

* Man of the Match:
* Ali Williams (Toulon)
* Touch judges:
* George Clancy (Ireland)
* Wayne Barnes (England)
* Television match official:
* Graham Hughes (England)
