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). The all-French game was won by Toulon, defeating Clermont 16–15.

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).

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-placed team in Top 14, Perpignan.

Route to final On 6 April, Clermont defeated Montpellier 36–14 at the Stade Marcel-Michelin in the quarter-finals while Toulon defeated Leicester Tigers the following evening 21–15. On 27 April, in the semi-finals, Clermont won 16–10 against Munster at Stade de la Mosson while Toulon beat Saracens 24–12 at Twickenham the next day.

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

Summary The final was an all-French clash between Clermont and Toulon. At half-time the score was 3–3, with Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson and Clermont's Morgan Parra scoring a penalty each. 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. Delon later apologized for mocking Brock James on the way to scoring the winning try, after being criticized for being unprofessional.

Details

FB 15 Lee ByrneRW 14 Sitiveni SivivatuOC 13 Aurélien Rougerie (c) IC 12 Wesley FofanaLW 11 Napolioni NalagaFH 10 Brock James SH 9 Morgan Parra N8 8 Damien ChoulyOF 7 Gerhard Vosloo BF 6 Julien BonnaireRL 5 Nathan HinesLL 4 Jamie CudmoreTP 3 Davit Zirakashvili HK 2 Benjamin Kayser LP 1 Thomas Domingo Substitutions:HK 16 Ti'i Paulo PR 17 Vincent Debaty PR 18 Clement Ric LK 19 Julien PierreFL 20 Julien Bardy SH 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic FH 22 David Skrela CE 23 Regan King Coach: Vern Cotter FB 15 Delon ArmitageRW 14 Rudi WulfOC 13 Mathieu BastareaudIC 12 Matt GiteauLW 11 Alexis PalissonFH 10 Jonny Wilkinson (c)SH 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde N8 8 Chris Masoe OF 7 Juan Martín Fernández LobbeBF 6 Danie Rossouw RL 5 Nick KennedyLL 4 Bakkies Botha TP 3 Carl Hayman HK 2 Sébastien Bruno LP 1 Andrew Sheridan Substitutions:HK 16 Jean-Charles Orioli PR 17 Gethin Jenkins PR 18 Davit Kubriashvili N8 19 Joe van Niekerk FL 20 Steffon Armitage CE 21 Maxime MermozFH 22 Frédéric Michalak LK 23 Jocelino Suta 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.

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.

References

External links Official web site