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 Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

competition. The match was played on 18 May 2013 in the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC). The all-French game was won by

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, defeating Clermont 16–15.

Background

Under rules of the competition organiser,

European Rugby Cup European Rugby Cup Ltd (or ERC) was the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments; the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. It was replaced by the European Professional Club Rugby governing body in ...

, 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 The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

. 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 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

home-and-away season. However, France is capped at seven Heineken Cup places (as is

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). 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 RDS Arena is a multi-purpose sports stadium, owned by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) and located in the Dublin suburb of Ballsbridge, Ireland. The arena was developed to host equestrian events, primarily the annual Dublin Horse Show, which was ...

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 The Stade Marcel-Michelin is a sports ground in Clermont-Ferrand, France. It has been the home of the French rugby union club ASM Clermont-Auvergne since its opening in 1911. The stadium takes its name from the founder of the ''Association Sport ...

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 The Stade de la Mosson () is a football stadium in Montpellier, France. It is the home of Ligue 1 club Montpellier HSC, and has a capacity of 32,900. Formerly a 16,000-seater stadium, it was entirely rebuilt in 1998 to host 6 games of the 1998 ...

while Toulon beat Saracens 26–14 at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

the next day.

Match

The European Champions Village was staged in

Merrion Square Merrion Square () is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre. History The square was laid out in 1752 by the estate of Viscount FitzWilliam and was largely complete by the beginning of the 19th century. The demand fo ...

and was a point for all travelling supporters to congregate before the match.

Summary

The final was an all-French clash between Clermont and

. At half-time the score was 3–3, with Toulon's

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the w ...

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 Delon Anthony Armitage (born 15 December 1983) is a rugby union coach and former player who played at wing or fullback for Lyon OU and is capped for England. He also occasionally played centre. Armitage started out at London Irish and Toulon. H ...

'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

Reaction

Wilkinson, who had turned down a place on the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

side to focus on his club rugby, said that winning the Heineken Cup was "right up there with winning the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

". 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 The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

in 2004 when the competition was known as Super 12. The previous three players to have claimed both titles were Rod Kafer,

Doug Howlett Douglas Charles Howlett (born 21 September 1978) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He was primarily a wing, but he also sometimes played as a fullback. He played for Auckland, and the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Blues ...

, and Brad Thorn.

References

External links

Official web site
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Heineken Cup Final Heineken Cup Final ASM Clermont Auvergne matches RC Toulonnais matches