2002 Heineken Cup Final

The 2002 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2001–02 Heineken Cup, the seventh season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 25 May 2002 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; this was the third time the final had been played in Cardiff after the 1996 and 1997 finals, but the first since the opening of the Millennium Stadium, which was built on the site of the old Cardiff Arms Park for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

2002 Heineken Cup Final
Event2001–02 Heineken Cup
Date25 May 2002
VenueMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
RefereeJoël Jutge (France)
Attendance74,600

The match was contested by Leicester Tigers of England and Munster of Ireland. Munster were appearing in their second final after losing the 2000 Heineken Cup Final to Northampton Saints. Tigers were the defending champions having beaten Stade Français in the 2001 Heineken Cup Final and were appearing in their third final after losing the 1997 final to Brive.

Leicester Tigers won the match 15–9, becoming the first team to successfully defend the trophy.[1] In the first minute, Tigers had a try by Freddie Tuilagi ruled out for illegal blocking on Munster wing John Kelly.[2] Munster took a 3–0 lead from Ronan O'Gara's penalty before Tigers had a second try ruled out inside the first 10 minutes, Martin Johnson had pounced on a Frankie Sheahan over throw but referee Joël Jutge was not ready and the throw re-taken. After 20 minutes O'Gara slotted his second penalty for a 6–0 lead after Lewis Moody had been ruled offside. Geordan Murphy scored Tigers first try after a sweeping break from Tim Stimpson and dummy before finding Murphy to make it 6–5 when the conversion was missed. A scrum penalty against Darren Garforth gave O'Gara his third penalty goal for a 9–5 lead. However, once Harry Ellis, a try scorer in the semi final, was introduced on 52 minutes, the game swung into Leicester's favour. Tigers turned down kicks at goal in search of the try that came when Austin Healey darted over, Tim Stimpson's conversion gave Leicester a 12–9 lead. O'Gara missed an opportunity to level the scorers, and seconds later Stimpson slotted the last points of the game for a 15–9 final score. More drama was to come, though, as Munster wing Kelly thought he had scored in the corner, only to be denied by a last-ditch cover tackle by man of the match Healey.[3]

Match details

25 May 2002
15:00 BST
Leicester Tigers 15–9 Munster
Try: Murphy 26' m
Healey 59' c
Con: Stimpson 59'
Pen: Stimpson 70'
Report Pen: O'Gara 7', 20', 49'
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,600
Referee: Joël Jutge (France)
Leicester Tigers
Munster
FB15 Tim Stimpson
RW14 Geordan Murphy
OC13 Ollie Smith 78'
IC12 Rod Kafer
LW11 Freddie Tuilagi
FH10 Austin Healey
SH9 Jamie Hamilton 52'
N88 Martin Corry
OF7 Neil Back
BF6 Lewis Moody
RL5 Ben Kay
LL4 Martin Johnson (c)
TP3 Darren Garforth
HK2 Dorian West
LP1 Graham Rowntree 74'
Replacements:
SH16 Harry Ellis 52'
PR17 Perry Freshwater 74'
CE18 Glenn Gelderbloom 78'
HK19 Richard Cockerill
N820 Will Johnson
FL21 Josh Kronfeld
FH22 Andy Goode
Coach:
Dean Richards
FB15 Dominic Crotty 66'
RW14 John Kelly
OC13 Rob Henderson 68'
IC12 Jason Holland
LW11 John O'Neill
FH10 Ronan O'Gara
SH9 Peter Stringer
N88 Anthony Foley 53'
OF7 David Wallace
BF6 Alan Quinlan
RL5 Paul O'Connell 62'
LL4 Mick Galwey (c)
TP3 John Hayes
HK2 Frankie Sheahan 18' 29'
LP1 Peter Clohessy 61'
Replacements:
HK16 James Blaney 18' 29'
FL17 Jim Williams 53'
PR18 Marcus Horan 61'
LK19 Mick O'Driscoll 62'
FH20 Jeremy Staunton 66'
WG21 Mike Mullins 68'
SH22 Mike Prendergast
Coach:
Declan Kidney

See also

References

  1. "Tigers retain European Cup". BBC Sport. 9 March 2002. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  2. "Tigers are Heineken champs once again". ESPNscrum. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  3. "Leicester hang on to defend Heineken crown". ESPNscrum. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.