Toulouse claimed a record fifth European crown as they defeated 14-man French rivals La Rochelle 22-17 to win the Heineken Champions Cup final at Twickenham.
It will be a disappointment for former Ireland and Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara, who is now head coach at La Rochelle.
La Rochelle centre Levani Botia became the first man to be sent off in a Champions Cup final and Toulouse eventually wore their opposition down despite being second best up front.
Juan Cruz Mallia’s second-half try was the crucial moment.
In front of 10,000 fans at Twickenham, Toulouse’s Francois Cros made an early break before his team-mate Romain Ntamack kicked an impressive penalty to open the scoring.
L'émotion de la victoire ?❤️? pic.twitter.com/1yWGPLOf5N
— Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) May 22, 2021
La Rochelle’s Ihaia West soon cancelled it out, but he would miss three crucial kicks over the course of the game.
Toulouse lost lock Richie Arnold to injury inside the first 10 minutes.
Ntamack kicked a second penalty, but West’s next attempt came off a post and gave La Rochelle a five-metre scrum.
It was a fine attacking position with the yellow scrum well on top, but Botia knocked on.
The pressure of a final saw lots of errors made. Toulouse missed touch, Maxime Medard also spilled the ball and La Rochelle’s Gregory Alldritt ran into his own man.
Ntamack then kicked out on the full after the ball had been passed back into his 22.
West finally gave La Rochelle a reward for their territory as he made it 6-6.
Botia then crashed into Medard with a high tackle. He was initially sin binned for stopping Toulouse’s quick penalty after his initial tackle, but the hit on Medard was checked by referee Luke Pearce.
The television pictures showed Botia’s tackle was a clear red card offence and he was sent off.
Medard was removed for a head injury assessment soon after dropping the ball.
The red card, though, did not stop La Rochelle’s intent. They kept forcing Toulouse into giving away penalties and Toulouse lost Rynhardt Elstadt to a sin binning for playing the ball on the ground.
West and Ntamack swapped penalties again, but West’s fourth kick made it 12-9 at the break, with Medard back on the field.
West then missed the chance to extend his team’s lead when the game resumed.
Toulouse had barely fired a shot in attack, but in the 45th minute that changed. Antoine Dupont kicked to Cheslin Kolbe, who dived over in the corner.
Kolbe crossed to score, but Geoffrey Doumayrou’s stunning cover tackle had forced the South African into touch before he got downward pressure. Ntamack kicked a penalty as consolation.
On his first ever European start, Juan Cruz Mallia scores the first try in the Final ???
And @StadeToulousain take the lead ❤️?#HeinekenChampionsCup #LARvTOU pic.twitter.com/iSNYuwzO5b
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) May 22, 2021
La Rochelle’s Pierre Bourgarit spilled the ball with the line gaping, while Toulouse also saw a television check for a try ruled out.
Toulouse finally broke through for the crucial first try on the hour mark.
Mallia was the man to go over after a fine long pass from Ntamack, who improved the score.
Ntamack kicked another penalty and, although La Rochelle grabbed a late try through Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Toulouse became the first team to win five Champions Cups.
