List of European Rugby Champions Cup finals

(Redirected from Heineken Cup Final)

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:
2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup
SportRugby union
Instituted1995
Number of teams24
CountryInternational club (European Professional Club Rugby)
HoldersFrance La Rochelle (2022–23)
Most titlesFrance Toulouse (5 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 five 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 three times, Racing 92, 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 edit

Key
Match was won during extra time
§ Team also won domestic league
Heineken Cup era
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance
1995–96   Toulouse§ 21–18   Cardiff   Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 21,800
1996–97   Brive 28–9   Leicester Tigers   Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 41,664
1997–98   Bath 19–18   Brive   Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 36,500
1998–99   Ulster 21–6   Colomiers   Lansdowne Road, Dublin 49,000
1999–2000   Northampton Saints 9–8   Munster   Twickenham, London 68,441
2000–01   Leicester Tigers§ 34–30   Stade Français   Parc des Princes, Paris 44,000
2001–02   Leicester Tigers§ 15–9   Munster   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,600
2002–03   Toulouse 22–17   Perpignan   Lansdowne Road, Dublin 28,600
2003–04   London Wasps§ 27–20   Toulouse   Twickenham, London 73,057
2004–05   Toulouse 18–12   Stade Français   Murrayfield, Edinburgh 51,326
2005–06   Munster 23–19   Biarritz   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,534
2006–07   London Wasps 25–9   Leicester Tigers   Twickenham, London 81,076
2007–08   Munster 16–13   Toulouse   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,500
2008–09   Leinster 19–16   Leicester Tigers   Murrayfield, Edinburgh 66,523
2009–10   Toulouse 21–19   Biarritz   Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,962
2010–11   Leinster 33–22   Northampton Saints   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 72,456
2011–12   Leinster 42–14   Ulster   Twickenham, London 81,774
2012–13   Toulon 16–15   Clermont   Aviva Stadium, Dublin 50,198
2013–14   Toulon§ 23–6   Saracens   Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 67,586
Champions Cup era
2014–15   Toulon 24–18   Clermont   Twickenham, London 56,622
2015–16   Saracens§ 21–9   Racing 92   Grand Stade de Lyon, 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
2018–19   Saracens§ 20–10   Leinster   St James' Park, Newcastle 51,930
2019–20   Exeter Chiefs§ 31–27   Racing 92   Ashton Gate, Bristol 0
2020–21   Toulouse§ 22–17   La Rochelle   Twickenham Stadium, London 10,000
2021–22   La Rochelle 24–21   Leinster   Stade de Marseille, Marseille 59,682
2022–23   La Rochelle 27–26   Leinster   Aviva Stadium, Dublin 51,711

Performances edit

By club edit

Club Champions Runners-up Years as champions Years as runners-up
  Toulouse       5 2 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2020–21 2003–04, 2007–08
  Leinster      4 3 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2017–18 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23
  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

References edit

  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.

External links edit