2014 Heineken Cup final

The 2014 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2013–14 Heineken Cup, the 19th and final season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The Heineken Cup was replaced by a new top-level competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup, effective in 2014–15.[1] The match, between Toulon and Saracens,[2][3] was played on 24 May 2014 in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).[4]

2014 Heineken Cup Final
Event2013–14 Heineken Cup
Date24 May 2014
VenueMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
Man of the MatchCraig Burden (Toulon)
RefereeAlain Rolland (Ireland)
Attendance67,578
WeatherN/A (roof closed)
2013
2015

Toulon were the defending champions. Previously, Saracens had only reached the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. The final result was 23–6 for Toulon to retain their title.[5][6]

Route to final

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First roundSemifinalsFinal
27 April 2014
6 April 20143  Toulon24
3  Toulon294  Munster1424 May 2014
6  Leinster14  Toulon23
26 April 2014  Saracens6
5 April 20148  Saracens46
1  Ulster152  Clermont6
8  Saracens17

Toulon

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Toulon went into the knock-out stage seed 3, after earning five out of six victories in the pool stage. They topped pool 2 with 24 points respectively. They opened their campaign with a home 51–28 bonus point win over Glasgow Warriors, scoring six tries. They did however concede four tries, to give Glasgow a bonus point of their own. In round 2, they played Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff Arms Park. Cardiff earned a surprise 19–15 victory over the defending champions. Toulon failed to score any tries in this match, the first time Toulon has done this since their 24–12 win over Saracens in 2013. Their third game was a 14–9 victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park, in which Toulon failed to gain a bonus point. They however earned a bonus point in the return home fixture in round four, after scoring four tries in a 32–20 win over Exeter. Round five saw Toulon beat Cardiff Blues 43–20 at home to secure a knock-out stage seed. They finished their pool stage with a 15–8 win over Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun, to confirm their knock-out seed and positioning.[7]

Following the final pool stage match, the draw was made for the semi-finals. Toulon was drawn at home for the semi-final, should they win their quarter-final, which meant they would be the only team to have a home semi and quarter-final. Toulon faced top seed Leinster on 6 April. Toulon stormed into the semis with a 29–14 victory over the Irish Province. Toulon then faced another Irish province in Munster. Toulon decided they would play this match at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. Munster indiscipline gave Toulon 21 of their 24 points though penalties, with Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal as the other Toulon score. In a tight match, Toulon only conceded four kickable penalties and one try to give Munster 16 points. This meant, Toulon would advance to the final on the back of a 24–16 win.[8]

Saracens

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Saracens went into the knock-out stage bottom of the seed table (8). They only won four matches during the pool stage, the first being a 23–17 win over Connacht away. Round two saw Saracens take their home match to Wembley Stadium, instead of Allianz Park, to face Toulouse. A record British attendance for a Heineken Cup pool game, saw Saracens narrowly lose to Toulouse 16–17, but managed to pick a single bonus point by virtue of losing by seven points or less. Saracens next played Zebre at Stadio XXV Aprile. It was believed that Saracens would walk away with this match, but Saracens were only able to put 29 points over the Italian side, winning 39–10. The return fixture however saw Saracens thrash Zebre 64–3, scoring nine tries and conceding just two penalties. They then went to Stade Ernest-Wallon to play Toulouse away. They lost again to the French side 21–11, put their strong defence kept Toulouse try-less. But their indiscipline, gave Toulouse 21 point though kick at goals. Their final match was at home, against Connacht. In a match where Saracens scored ten tries, Saracens booked their place a knock-out seed with a 64–6 victory over the Irish province.[9]

Their quarter-final saw Saracens travel to Ulster, who were the only team to win six from six in the pool stages. However, in a controversial match, through the Jared Payne red card, Saracens scored 17 points to Ulster's 15 to progress to the semi-final. Due to the draw that followed the pool stage, Saracens had a home semi-final who choose to play the match at Twickenham. Saracens faced early favorites and last years runners-up Clermont at the RFU home stadium. The match saw Saracens earn a record, for the biggest winning margin in a Heineken Cup semi-final. Saracens overtook Leicester Tigers 37 point winning margin over London Wasps, by three, after they won 46–6 over Clermont. They kept Clermont scoreless in the second half, and scored six tries in the 80 minutes. This meant they would final progress to the Heineken Cup Final, and would face the defending champions.[8]

Match

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Summary

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The Millennium Stadium on the 2014 finals weekend

Under a closed roof at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the match kicked off at 5pm. Within three minutes, Owen Farrell had put Saracens into the lead with a penalty. Despite early pressure from Toulon, they conceded a second penalty in the 12th minute, but Marcelo Bosch failed to convert, the score remaining 3–0. On 21 minutes, Toulon's Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe was sin-binned for pulling down Alistair Hargreaves under a high kick, but Farrell failed to convert the resulting penalty. In the 29th minute, a chip into space from Matt Giteau found Drew Mitchell who, after beating the tackle of Alex Goode, passed back to Giteau who scored the first try of the final, converted by Jonny Wilkinson, and taking the score to 7–3 in Toulon's favour. Fernández Lobbe returned from the sin-bin and three minutes later, Wilkinson scored a drop goal, to take the score to 10–3 at half time.[10]

Five minutes after the restart, and after a strong showing from Saracens, Farrell scored another penalty after a collapsed scrum, reducing the deficit to four points. However, on 53 minutes, Wilkinson restored the seven point lead with another penalty.[11] Six minutes later, Toulon's Mathieu Bastareaud made a break and supplied Juan Smith with the ball, and after an exchange with Fernández Lobbe, Smith scored Toulon's second try, which Wilkinson converted to take the score to 20–6. A third penalty, three minutes later, took Wilkinson's tally to eleven points and Toulon's advantage to 17 points. Despite late pressure from Saracens, no further points were scored as Toulon won the match, and the final Heineken Cup, 23–6.[10][12]

Details

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24 May 2014
17:00 BST (UTC+01)
Toulon  23–6  Saracens
Try: Giteau 29' c
Smith 59' c
Con: Wilkinson (2/2)
Pen: Wilkinson (2/2) 53', 63'
Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 37'
Report[13]Pen: Farrell (2/3) 3', 45'
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 67,578
Referee: Alain Rolland (IRFU)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Toulon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Saracens
FB 15   Delon Armitage
RW 14   Drew Mitchell
OC 13   Mathieu Bastareaud
IC 12   Matt Giteau
LW 11   Bryan Habana
FH 10   Jonny Wilkinson (c)   77'
SH 9   Sébastien Tillous-Borde   70'
N8 8   Steffon Armitage
OF 7   Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe   21' to 31'
BF 6   Juan Smith   71'
RL 5   Danie Rossouw   51'
LL 4   Bakkies Botha   51'
TP 3   Carl Hayman   56'
HK 2   Craig Burden   41'
LP 1   Xavier Chiocci   45'
Substitutions:
HK 16   Jean-Charles Orioli   41'
PR 17   Alexandre Menini   45'
PR 18   Martin Castrogiovanni   56'
LK 19   Ali Williams   51'
FL 20   Virgile Bruni   71'
CE 21   Maxime Mermoz   77'
SH 22   Michael Claassens   70'
LK 23   Jocelino Suta   51'
Coach:
  Bernard Laporte
FB 15   Alex Goode
RW 14   Chris Ashton
OC 13   Marcelo Bosch
IC 12   Brad Barritt
LW 11   David Strettle   69'
FH 10   Owen Farrell   64'
SH 9   Richard Wigglesworth   50'
N8 8   Billy Vunipola
OF 7   Jacques Burger   61'
BF 6   Kelly Brown
RL 5   Alistair Hargreaves   64'
LL 4   Steve Borthwick (c)
TP 3   Matt Stevens   54'
HK 2   Schalk Brits   69'
LP 1   Mako Vunipola   64'
Substitutions:
HK 16   Jamie George   69'
PR 17   Richard Barrington   64'
PR 18   James Johnston   54'
LK 19   Mouritz Botha   64'
FL 20   Jackson Wray   61'
SH 21   Neil de Kock   50'
FH 22   Charlie Hodgson   64'
FB 23   Chris Wyles   69'
Coach:
  Mark McCall

Man of the Match:
  Craig Burden (Toulon)

Touch judges:
  George Clancy
  Leighton Hodges
Television match official:
  Gareth Simmonds

References

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  1. ^ "Future of European Rugby resolved" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Wilkinson boots Toulon into final". ESPN. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Saracens thrash Clermont to book place in final". ESPN. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Toulon and Wilkinson open title defence at home". European Rugby Cup. 20 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Toulon 23 Saracens 6". Daily Telegraph. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Heineken Cup final: Toulon v Saracens – as it happened". Guardian. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Saison 2013–2014" (in French). Toulon. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Heineken Cup fixtures". European Rugby Cup. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Fixtures". Saracens F.C. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Heineken Cup final – Saracens v Toulon". BBC Sport. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  11. ^ "England hero Jonny Wilkinson bids adieu by kicking Toulon to a Double". The Independent. 24 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Toulon secure back-to-back titles". ESPN. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
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