Ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao, we take a look back at some of the greatest European Cup finals in history…
Leinster 26-27 La Rochelle – 2023
The 2023 final between four-time champions Leinster and then-champions La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was a repeat of the 2022 final in Marseille, with Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle clinching the title after coming from eight points down in the final minute. This was arguably the best Champions Cup final ever witnessed.
A stunning comeback from a 17-point deficit on the day saw La Rochelle become back-to-back Champions Cup winners with a dramatic 27-26 win over Leinster on their own patch.
La Rochelle came from behind 17-0 and 23-7 to beat Leinster on their own patch.
Leinster were 17-0 ahead within 12 minutes with hooker Dan Sheehan (2) and wing Jimmy O’Brien scoring tries in a stunning start to the game, while La Rochelle scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow was also guilty.
The French club hit back through a Jonathan Danty try but fell behind 23-7 after two Ross Byrne penalties before Danty’s midfield partner UJ Seuteni scored a decisive second try late in the first half to bring the visitors within nine points.
O’Gara’s charges dominated virtually the entire second half, showing superiority in scrum and mall time, but Leinster’s outstanding defense kept them at bay for long periods even after Antoine Hastoy had reduced the gap to six points.
Substitute Georges Henri Colombe completed the biggest comeback in European Cup final history as he put the game away with eight minutes left to give Hastoj a one-point lead.
Ronan O’Gara’s charge clinched the title in 2023, with his final victory coming in 2022. Also the game against Leinster.
Leinster had one last chance to win when Danty made a high tackle and struck hard in the final minutes on the La Rochelle tryline. But just when it looked like the Irish province would reverse La Rochelle’s late success in Marseille, prop Michael Ala’alatoa was shown a red card for a dangerous and uncontrollable clear-out at Colombe, allowing La Rochelle to clear the danger and celebrate deservedly wildly.
Leinster 33-22 Northampton – 2011
Prior to Dublin 2023, the biggest final comeback in Champions Cup history came in 2011 when Leinster won the title for the second time after a thumping 33-22 win over Northampton Saints in Cardiff.
Leinster won their second European title in 2011, beating Northampton 22-6.
The Saints were on course to win their second European Cup after leading 22-6 at half-time, but a stunning fightback from Johnny Sexton’s Irish team saw the Saints win the tournament for the second time in three years.
Tries from Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and Dylan Hartley propelled Northampton to victory before Leinster rallied and took complete control of the second half.
Sexton scored after the restart and the Ireland out-half got quickly over the line again before a Leinster penalty allowed them to turn a huge deficit into one point inside 17 minutes of the second half.
Johnny Sexton produced perhaps the best individual performance in the history of the 2011 European Cup Final.
Nathan Hines scored Leinster’s third try in his final game before joining Clermont Auvergne as the Blues completed a remarkable turnaround.
Leicester 34-30 Stade Francais – 2001
In one of the most exciting European Cup finals of all time, Leicester achieved their first win in the competition in 2001 after an emotional win over Stade Français in Paris.
Leicester came away late after beating Stade Français in the 2001 final in Paris.
The French team looked set to become champions as they led for most of the game, but a last-minute try from Leon Lloyd gave the Tigers victory.
Diego Dominguez scored all of Stade Français’ points, including nine penalties. The team was on the verge of European glory.
Trailing 15-9 at the break, Lloyd scored at the start of the second half before Neil Back’s converted try made it 21-21.
Dominguez put Stade Francais ahead again, but the contest was decided in the final minutes when Austin Healey burst through the middle to hand Lloyd the win.
Exeter Chiefs 31-27 Racing 92 – 2020
The trophy has a new name, with the 2020 final being rescheduled as Exeter and Racing face off behind closed doors in Bristol due to COVID-19.
The winners of the 2020 competition were Exeter Chiefs, who crushed Racing 92 behind closed doors.
The ding-dong incident, which saw Exeter lead 14-0 after 20 minutes after tries from Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds, robbed supporters of one of the most entertaining finals in history.
Racing hit back with tries from Simon Zebo and Juan Imhoff, but Chiefs had the final say in the first half as Harry Williams scored from the final play.
Zebo scored his second for Racing shortly after the restart, but Henry Slade scored two minutes after that to give Exeter some daylight again. Just five minutes later Camille Chat finished for Racing and with 15 minutes left, Maxime Machenaud kicked a penalty to cut Exeter’s lead to 28-27.
Chiefs’ desperate try-line defense gave Racing a boost, with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne’s pivotal turnover proving decisive. Joe Simmonds ensured victory with the last kick of the penalty spot, and despite referee Nigel Owens’ confusion over the match clock, racing was not restarted.
Munster 23-19 Biarritz – 2006
After a few years of one-goal semi-finals and two close misses in the final, Munster’s third stroke of luck came in the 2006 Heineken Cup, beating Biarritz in Cardiff.
Munster’s 10-year quest to win the European Cup reached an emotional fulfillment in 2006.
Sireli Bobo gave Biarritz a controversial early lead, but Munster responded with a score from Trevor Halstead and a superb individual try from Peter Stringer.
Munster led 17-10 at half-time but the French side closed within a point after two penalties from Dmitri Yachvili set up a tight final.
Peter Stringer’s try in the 2006 final is legendary
But a dependable second-half Ronan O’Gara converted his third penalty and Munster held on to secure a stirring first European win.
Wasps 27-20 Toulouse – 2004
Rob Howley’s late try gave Wasps a stunning win over Toulouse at Twickenham in 2004 and their first trophy success in the tournament.
Wasps beat Toulouse at Twickenham in 2004 after a famous late try from Rob Howley and an infamous mistake from Clement Poitrenaud.
Wasps were dominant in the first half, with Stuart Abbott crossing the line to take the lead before Toulouse flyhalf Yann Delaigue responded to bring his side back to within two points of their opponents.
Full-back Mark van Gisbergen went on to score Wasps’ second try, but the English club were denied by two penalties from Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
The final looked like it was headed for extra-time until Howley attempted a grubber kick of his own to score the decisive try from a Wasps corner. Clement Poitrenaud made the mistake of all European Cup finals, willing to wait for the bouncing ball to go into goal but failing to press ahead of Howley.
Bath 19-18 Bribe – 1998
In their third Heineken Cup final, Bath broke France’s dominance in quite dramatic fashion against the reigning champions in Brive.
Andy Nicol holds the trophy high after Bath’s dramatic final win over Brive.
Early in the second half Bath found themselves on the ropes, nine points adrift. Brive were ready to deliver a killer punch as they camped out on the Bath line with a series of scrums.
The 1997 Cup winners attempted to break Bath a whopping seven times, and Bath refused to let them go seven times. In that powerful moment, psychological warfare was both won and lost.
Bath slowly got back on the scoreboard and full-back Jon Callard’s fourth penalty two minutes after injury time gave Bath a one-shot victory to take the lead in the final.
Braves center Christophe Lamaison still had one last penalty chance to keep the cup in France, but he missed wide to the right and flyhalf Lisandro Arbizu looked on in despair as his drop goal attempt also failed to find the target.
