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. This was the third successive win by Toulon of the top European club rugby competition.

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. In 2014, Toulon won 23–6 against England's Saracens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

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. 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. Around 8000 supporters of the two clubs involved in the final travelled to Twickenham, with part of their allocations being returned.

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.

Route to Final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). Clermont AuvergneRound ToulonOpponentResultPool stageOpponentResult Saracens23–30 (A)Matchday 1 Scarlets28–18 (H) Sale Sharks35–3 (H)Matchday 2 Ulster23–13 (A) Munster16–9 (A)Matchday 3 Leicester Tigers21–25 (A) Munster26–19 (H)Matchday 4 Leicester Tigers23–8 (H) Sale Sharks22–13 (A)Matchday 5 Ulster60–22 (H) Saracens18–6 (H)Matchday 6 Scarlets26–3 (A)Pool 1 winner TeamPPts Clermont 6 22 Saracens 6 17 Munster 6 15 Sale Sharks 6 2Final standingsPool 3 winner TeamPPts Toulon 6 22 Leicester Tigers 6 13 Ulster 6 12 Scarlets 6 8OpponentResultKnock-out stageOpponentResult Northampton Saints37–5 (H)Quarter-finals Wasps32–18 (H) Saracens13–9 (H)Semi-finals 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. 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.

On 4 April in the quarter-finals, Clermont hosted English champions Northampton Saints and won 37–5. 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.

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. 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. 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.

Match Details

FB 15 Nick AbendanonRW 14 Noa Nakaitaci OC 13 Jonathan DaviesIC 12 Wesley FofanaLW 11 Napolioni Nalaga FH 10 Camille LopezSH 9 Morgan Parra N8 8 Fritz Lee OF 7 Damien Chouly (c)BF 6 Julien BonnaireRL 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina LL 4 Jamie Cudmore TP 3 Davit Zirakashvili HK 2 Benjamin Kayser LP 1 Vincent Debaty Substitutions:HK 16 John Ulugia PR 17 Thomas Domingo PR 18 Clément Ric LK 19 Julien Pierre FL 20 Julien Bardy SH 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic FH 22 Mike Delany CE 23 Aurélien Rougerie Coach: Franck Azéma FB 15 Leigh HalfpennyRW 14 Drew MitchellOC 13 Mathieu BastareaudIC 12 Juan Martín Hernández LW 11 Bryan HabanaFH 10 Matt GiteauSH 9 Sébastien Tillous-BordeN8 8 Chris MasoeOF 7 Steffon ArmitageBF 6 Juan Smith RL 5 Ali WilliamsLL 4 Bakkies Botha TP 3 Carl Hayman (c) HK 2 Guilhem Guirado LP 1 Xavier Chiocci Substitutions:HK 16 Jean-Charles Orioli PR 17 Alexandre Menini PR 18 Levan Chilachava LK 19 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe FL 20 Virgile BruniCE 21 Rudi Wulf SH 22 Frédéric MichalakLK 23 Romain Taofifenua Coach: Bernard Laporte Man of the Match: Ali Williams (Toulon)

Touch judges: George Clancy (Ireland) Wayne Barnes (England) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

References