2015 European Rugby Champions Cup final

2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final Stade_de_Twickenham_%C3%A0_Londres.jpg 200 Twickenham Stadium hosted the final 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup Clermont FRA 30px 18 Toulon FRA 30px 24 2 May 2015 Twickenham Stadium London Ali Williams (Toulon) Nigel Owens (Wales) 56,622 2014 2016 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. http://en.espn.co.uk/european-rugby-champions-cup-2014-15/rugby/story/263203.html Mitchell stunner ensures Toulon complete historic treble 2 May 2015 ESPN 5 May 2015 This was the third successive win by Toulon of the top European club rugby competition. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/02/clermont-auvergne-toulon-european-champions-cup-final-match-report Toulon beat Clermont Auvergne to win first European Rugby Champions Cup 2 May 2015 Guardian 5 May 2015 https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/32546158 Toulon secure hat-trick 2 May 2015 BBC Sport 5 May 2015 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. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/10066199/Heineken-Cup-final-Clermont-Auvergne-15-Toulon-16-match-report.html Heineken Cup final: Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16: match report 18 March 2013 Daily Telegraph 20 May 2013 In 2014, Toulon won 23–6 against England's Saracens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.Champions of Europe http://www.epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychampionscup/champions.php European Professional Club Rugby 19 April 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150908021458/http://www.epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychampionscup/champions.php 8 September 2015 dead dmy-all 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 2 May 2015.https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/european-cup/twickenham-to-host-inaugural-european-champions-cup-final-1.1894737 Twickenham to host inaugural European Champions Cup final The Irish Times 2014-08-12 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.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/european-rugby/11563709/European-Champions-Cup-final-too-soon-admits-EPCR-chief.html European Champions Cup final too soon, admits EPCR chief The Telegraph 2015-04-25 Steve James Around 8000 supporters of the two clubs involved in the final travelled to Twickenham, with part of their allocations being returned.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/20/european-champions-cup-empty-twickenham-final European Champions Cup organisers fear half-empty Twickenham final The Guardian Robert Kitson 2015-04-20 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.Has rugby's new European Champions Cup worked? Simon Thomas investigates amid thrilling rugby and a ticket fiasco 2015-04-28 Simon Thomas http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/rugbys-new-european-champions-cup-9136523 Wales Online Route to Final 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). FRA Clermont AuvergneRoundFRA ToulonOpponentResultPool stageOpponentResultENG Saracens23–30 (A)Matchday 1WAL Scarlets28–18 (H)ENG Sale Sharks35–3 (H)Matchday 2IRE rugby union Ulster23–13 (A)IRE rugby union Munster16–9 (A)Matchday 3ENG Leicester Tigers21–25 (A)IRE rugby union Munster26–19 (H)Matchday 4ENG Leicester Tigers23–8 (H)ENG Sale Sharks22–13 (A)Matchday 5IRE rugby union Ulster60–22 (H)ENG Saracens18–6 (H)Matchday 6WAL Scarlets26–3 (A)Pool 1 winner TeamPPts FRA Clermont 6 22 ENG Saracens 6 17 IRE rugby union Munster 6 15 ENG Sale Sharks 6 2Final standingsPool 3 winner TeamPPts FRA Toulon 6 22 ENG Leicester Tigers 6 13 IRE rugby union Ulster 6 12 WAL Scarlets 6 8OpponentResultKnock-out stageOpponentResultENG Northampton Saints37–5 (H)Quarter-finalsENG Wasps32–18 (H)ENG Saracens13–9 (H)Semi-finalsIRE rugby union Leinster25–20 (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.Standley James European Rugby Champions Cup: Saracens beat Clermont Auvergne https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/29617070 19 April 2015 BBC Sport 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.Aylwin Michael Saracens through after defeat by Clermont but tough away day awaits https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/25/clermont-auvergne-saracens-european-champions-cup-match-report 19 April 2015 The Guardian 18 January 2015 On 4 April in the quarter-finals, Clermont hosted English champions Northampton Saints and won 37–5.European Champions Cup: Clermont 37-5 Northampton https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/32148314 19 April 2015 BBC Sport 4 April 2015 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.Standley James European Champions Cup: Clermont Auvergne 13-9 Saracens https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/32319837 19 April 2015 BBC Sport 18 April 2015 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.Standley James European Rugby Champions Cup: Toulon 23-8 Leicester https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/30399348 19 April 2015 BBC Sport 7 December 2014 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.Standley James European Rugby Champions Cup: Toulon 32-18 Wasps https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/32148535 19 April 2015 BBC Sport 5 April 2015 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.Standley James European Champions Cup: Toulon 25-20 Leinster (aet) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/32352578 19 April 2015 BBC Sport 19 April 2015 Match Details 2 May 2015 17:00 BST (UTC+01) Clermont FRA 18–24 Reporthttp://www.epcrugby.com/matchcentre/30897.php European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR) epcrugby.com 14 September 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012944/http://www.epcrugby.com/matchcentre/30897.php 24 September 2015 dead dmy-all FRA Toulon Fofana 24' mAbendanon 62' c Lopez (1/2) 62' Lopez (2/2) 7', 12' Bastareaud 40' cMitchell 69' m Halfpenny (1/2) 40+2' Halfpenny (4/5) 16', 28', 32', 51' Twickenham Stadium, London 56,622 WAL Nigel Owens (Wales) _bluelower _thinyellowsides _bluelower FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFF000 Clermont _blackhorizontal ff0000 ff0000 ff0000 ff0000 ff0000 Toulon FB 15ENG Nick AbendanonRW 14FRA Noa Nakaitaci 67OC 13WAL Jonathan DaviesIC 12FRA Wesley FofanaLW 11FJI Napolioni Nalaga 54FH 10FRA Camille LopezSH 9 FRA Morgan Parra 56N8 8 NZL Fritz Lee 54OF 7 FRA Damien Chouly (c)BF 6 FRA Julien BonnaireRL 5 FRA Sebastien Vahaamahina 67LL 4 CAN Jamie Cudmore 10 16 57 65TP 3 GEO Davit Zirakashvili 66HK 2 FRA Benjamin Kayser 63LP 1 FRA Vincent Debaty 47Substitutions:HK 16AUS John Ulugia 63PR 17FRA Thomas Domingo 47PR 18FRA Clément Ric 66LK 19FRA Julien Pierre 10 16 57 65 67FL 20POR Julien Bardy 54SH 21FRA Ludovic Radosavljevic 56FH 22NZL Mike Delany 67CE 23FRA Aurélien Rougerie 54Coach:FRA Franck Azéma FB 15WAL Leigh HalfpennyRW 14AUS Drew MitchellOC 13FRA Mathieu BastareaudIC 12ARG Juan Martín Hernández 66LW 11RSA Bryan HabanaFH 10AUS Matt GiteauSH 9 FRA Sébastien Tillous-BordeN8 8 NZL Chris MasoeOF 7 ENG Steffon ArmitageBF 6 RSA Juan Smith 58RL 5 NZL Ali WilliamsLL 4 RSA Bakkies Botha 47TP 3 NZL Carl Hayman (c) 63 76HK 2 FRA Guilhem Guirado 63LP 1 FRA Xavier Chiocci 48Substitutions:HK 16FRA Jean-Charles Orioli 63PR 17FRA Alexandre Menini 48PR 18GEO Levan Chilachava 63 76LK 19ARG Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe 58FL 20FRA Virgile BruniCE 21NZL Rudi Wulf 66SH 22FRA Frédéric MichalakLK 23FRA Romain Taofifenua 47Coach:FRA Bernard Laporte Man of the Match: NZL Ali Williams (Toulon) Touch judges: IRE rugby union George Clancy (Ireland) ENG Wayne Barnes (England) Television match official: ENG Graham Hughes (England) References June 2017 Final 2015 Category:2014–15 in French rugby union Category:Rugby union in London European Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Champions Cup Category:ASM Clermont Auvergne matches Category:RC Toulon matches