2013 Heineken Cup Final

The 2013 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, the 18th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 18 May 2013 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).[1][2] The all-French game was won by Toulon, defeating Clermont 16–15.[3][4]

2013 Heineken Cup Final
Event2012–13 Heineken Cup
Clermont Toulon
15 16
Date18 May 2013
VenueAviva Stadium, Dublin
Man of the MatchMathieu Bastareaud
RefereeAlain Rolland (IRFU)
Attendance50,148

Background

Under rules of the competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, the winner of the Heineken Cup receives an automatic entry into the following season's Heineken Cup, as does the winner of the Amlin Challenge Cup. If the Heineken Cup winner has already qualified through its domestic or regional league, the berth will normally pass to another team from its country; both Clermont and Toulon have qualified as the top two teams in the Top 14 home-and-away season. However, France is capped at seven Heineken Cup places (as is England).[5]

The final 2013–14 Heineken Cup participant was determined by the result of the Challenge Cup Final held the previous day at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Leinster's victory over Stade Français meant that the Heineken Cup winner's berth would now pass to the seventh-place team in Top 14, Perpignan.[6]

Route to final

On 6 April, Clermont defeated Montpellier 36–14 at the Stade Marcel Michelin in the quarterfinals while Toulon defeated Leicester Tigers the following evening 21–15. On 27 April, in the semifinals, Clermont won 16–10 against Munster at Stade de la Mosson while Toulon beat Saracens 26–14 at Twickenham the next day.[7]

Match

The European Champions Village was staged in Merrion Square and was a point for all travelling supporters to congregate before the match.[8]

Summary

The final was an all-French clash between Clermont and Toulon.[9][10] At half-time the score was 3–3, with Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson and Clermont's Morgan Parra scoring a penalty each.[11] Early in the second half, Clermont scored two tries (Napolioni Nalaga and Brock James) taking the score to 15–6, but despite this, Delon Armitage's converted try resulted in a 16–15 win for Toulon.[11][12][13] Delon later apologized for mocking Brock James on the way to scoring the winning try, after being criticized for being unprofessional.[14][15]

Details
18 May 2013
17:00 IST
Clermont 15–16 Toulon
Try: Nalaga 42' m
James 48' c
Con: Parra (1/2)
Pen: Parra (1/1) 3'
 Report Try: D. Armitage 64' c
Con: Wilkinson (1/1)
Pen: Wilkinson (3/3) 13', 45', 60'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 50,148
Referee: Alain Rolland (IRFU)
FB15 Lee Byrne
RW14 Sitiveni Sivivatu
OC13 Aurélien Rougerie (c) 68'
IC12 Wesley Fofana
LW11 Napolioni Nalaga
FH10 Brock James 73'
SH9 Morgan Parra 71'
N88 Damien Chouly
OF7 Gerhard Vosloo 68'
BF6 Julien Bonnaire
RL5 Nathan Hines
LL4 Jamie Cudmore
TP3 Davit Zirakashvili 73'
HK2 Benjamin Kayser 66'
LP1 Thomas Domingo 66'
Substitutions:
HK16 Ti'i Paulo 66'
PR17 Vincent Debaty 66'
PR18 Clement Ric 73'
LK19 Julien Pierre
FL20 Julien Bardy 68'
SH21 Ludovic Radosavljevic 71'
FH22 David Skrela 73'
CE23 Regan King 68'
Coach:
Vern Cotter
FB15 Delon Armitage
RW14 Rudi Wulf
OC13 Mathieu Bastareaud
IC12 Matt Giteau
LW11 Alexis Palisson
FH10 Jonny Wilkinson (c)
SH9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde 50'
N88 Chris Masoe 69'
OF7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe
BF6 Danie Rossouw 50'
RL5 Nick Kennedy
LL4 Bakkies Botha 69'
TP3 Carl Hayman 76'
HK2 Sebastien Bruno 50'
LP1 Andrew Sheridan 61'
Substitutions:
HK16 Jean-Charles Orioli 50'
PR17 Gethin Jenkins 61'
PR18 Davit Kubriashvili 76'
N819 Joe van Niekerk 50'
FL20 Steffon Armitage 69'
CE21 Maxime Mermoz
FH22 Frédéric Michalak 50'
LK23 Jocelino Suta 69'
Coach:
Bernard Laporte

Touch judges:
Wayne Barnes
George Clancy
Television match official:
Marshall Kilgore

Reaction

Wilkinson, who had turned down a place on the British and Irish Lions side to focus on his club rugby, said that winning the Heineken Cup was "right up there with winning the World Cup". The following day, Wilkinson was named European Player of the Year following his performance in the Heineken Cup.[16]

Toulon's victory also doubled, to six, the number of players to have won titles in the premier club competitions of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively the Heineken Cup and Super Rugby. Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw had won the then-Super 14 title with the Bulls in 2007, 2009, and 2010, while Matt Giteau had won the title with the Brumbies in 2004 when the competition was known as Super 12. The previous three players to have claimed both titles were Rod Kafer, Doug Howlett, and Brad Thorn.[17]

References
  1. "2012/13 Heineken Cup Pool Draw" (Press release). European Rugby Cup. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. "Heinken Cup Final returns to Dublin in 2013". ERC Rugby Official Site. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  3. "Heineken Cup final: Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16: match report". Daily Telegraph. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. "Toulon claim Heineken Cup glory". ESPN. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. "Rules". European Rugby Cup. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  6. "Amlin Challenge Cup final: Leinster 34-13 Stade Francais". BBC Sport. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  7. "Heineken Cup fixtures". ERC. Archived from the original on 19 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  8. "Heineken Cup Final Update". ERC Rugby Official Site. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  9. Butler, Eddie (27 April 2013). "Munster's final fades away as Morgan Parra puts boot in for Clermont". Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  10. Kitson, Robert (28 April 2013). "Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson excels to ruin Saracens' Heineken Cup dream". Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  11. Lewis, Aimee (18 May 2013). "Clermont Auvergne 15-16 Toulon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  12. "Toulon 16 Clermont Auvergne 15 Heineken Cup final match report: Delon Armitage and Jonny Wilkinson finally bring reward for Toulon". The Independent. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  13. "Clermont Auvergne 15-16 Toulon". RTÉ Sport. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  14. "Delon Armitage admits: I was stupid to mock Clermont's Brock James | Sky Sports". Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  15. Moore, Brian (20 May 2013). "Delon Armitage's behaviour was not in keeping with the spirit Toulon showed when winning the Heineken Cup - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  16. "Jonny Wilkinson named European Player of the Year". BBC Sport. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  17. "The most glittering rugby CVs in the world?". ESPN Scrum. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.

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