Toulouse dominated the Irish province of Leinster after extra time (31-22) on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London to win its sixth Champions Cup after 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2021. The most successful club in the history of the competition succeeds the winners in La Rochelle, after an intense and contested match.
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The strength was with Toulouse, winner after extra time, thanks to an enormous defense, of its star war against Leinster (31-22) on Saturday in London and now even more alone, with six Champions Cups, in the firmament of European rugby .
A few weeks ago, Ugo Mola, a skillful communicator, piqued the pride of his players by saying that the current Toulouse generation had not yet had as much of an impact on the history of the club as some of their predecessors. He will have to find other psychological resources in the future as Antoine Dupont and his teammates are in the process of establishing a hegemony that will undoubtedly last for a little longer.
A sixth star will soon adorn their red and black jersey after those won in 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2021. Which is two more than that of Leinster, beaten for the third consecutive year in the final. After having already folded twice by nothing against La Rochelle, the Irish province, main supplier of the XV of Clover, has once again taken a lesson in French realism. Impressive offensively since the start of the competition, with more than six tries and 40 points per match on average, Toulouse built their success in the final very differently.
No testing in 80 minutes
Heroic, united, the teammates of François Cros, Jack Willis and other chief cutters held out for 80 unbreathable minutes against the blue surges. The Irish came up against a Toulouse brick wall throughout a long-awaited match between the two giants of Europe, but which ultimately did not result in a single try in regulation time. All the points were scored on foot – by Blair Kinghorn (12) and Thomas Ramos (3) on one side and Ross Byrne (12) and Ciaran Frawley (3) on the other – which did not prevent to witness a peak of intensity.
Long on the edge in a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium largely won over to the Irish cause, the reigning French champions only really took the upper hand a few minutes into extra time after the yellow card of winger James Lowe, guilty of an in -voluntary forward (82nd). They immediately took advantage of their numerical superiority to shift to the left wing Matthis Lebel (83rd), author of his sixth try this season in Champions, where he finished joint-top scorer with Lowe and Girondin Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
We thought, after a penalty from Ramos (25-15, 89th), that the hardest part was done, but the expulsion of Richie Arnold (90th), for a dangerous clearance on the opposing pillar Cian Healy, put the Leinstermen back in the game.
Third victory in overtime
The best world player 2022 Josh van der Flier, luxury replacement, put a piece back in the suspense box (93rd, 25-22 after the transformation). But Stade Toulouse held on for ten more minutes, courageously. Ramos, also off the bench during the match, added two penalties to allow his club to win for the third time in its history after extra time after 1996 (21-18 against Cardiff) and 2005 (18-12 against Stade français).
The Champions Cup remains French property for the fourth consecutive year, which is also a sign of the good health of club rugby in the country, with an ever more attractive and competitive Top 14. Toulouse is already almost assured of playing in the semi-finals next month, but its staff had decided even before leaving for London not to organize celebrations in the event of a European coronation.
As if the celebration would not be quite complete on the Place du Capitole without a Champions Cup-championship double. This gluttonous generation had already achieved this in 2021 and it is difficult to see at this level who could prevent it from doing it again.