European glory for Toulouse in disappointing Final

Nineteen first-half points enough for 1996 champs

Toulouse withstood a second-half rally from Perpignan to claim the all-French Heineken Cup Final at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, with a 22-17 triumph in a tight contest which was low on excitement on a grey and wet Dublin day.

Leading 19-0 at the break, Toulouse almost paid for their lack of ambition in the second half of a match played out in front of a dismal 28,000 crowd, one which will no doubt see the competition organisers seriously consider their policy of naming the venue so early in the season.

Still, a relatively sizeable and vocal contingent of fans from both sides turned out on the day, and witnessed Toulouse's fleet-footed wing Vincent Clerc score his side's only try of the day in the opening half, while Perpignan wing Pascal Bomati touched down his team's sole five-pointer in fine style right on the final whistle.

The drama of the last two years' Finals was sadly absent, and oh how this game could have done with some of the creation and handling of the day's other big showpiece, the Super 12 Final.

What it lacked in skill, it made up for in grunt, and the huge pack of Perpignan gave Toulouse problems throughout, with blindside Grégory Le Corvec and lock Rimas Alvarez Kairelis among those to shine, while Toulouse's better performances came behind the scrum, with wing Emile Ntamack and fly-half Yann Delaigue being two of the better contributors to a scrappy and error-ridden match.

Delaigue indeed kicked 17 of his side's 22 points with five penalties and a conversion, while his opposite number - Australian fly-half Manny Edmonds - weighed in with four penalties for the Catalans.

Perpignan's ambition was not merely confined to their much-heralded pack however, with fullback Jean-Marc Souverbie and wing Frédéric Cermeno shining on the odd chance that they had the ball, but their conservative first-half efforts ensured that they were never more than bridesmaids, as Toulouse won the trophy that they had claimed in 1996, the first ever year of the competition's existence.

There was the predictably fiery start early on, with both sides struggling to adjust to the breeze, but Delaigue calmed the Toulouse nerves with an early penalty, followed soon by a miss from scrum-half Frédéric Michalak.

With a fierce wind behind them, Michalak then went for the posts from all of 55 metres, and got the distance, but the ball rebounded off the post and bounced away, to the relief of the Perpignan defence.

Despite enjoying the majority of possession, Perpignan lacked direction, and Edmonds punted the ball away on far too many occasions, while Michel Konickiewicz's throwing at the line-out similarly lacked discipline.

Toulouse hooker Yannick Bru left the field after 15 minutes with a hamstring injury, and then the biggest cheer of the first half came when English referee Chris White himself sustained the same injury only a minute later, handing over responsibilities to countryman Tony Spreadbury.

Despite the odd fleeting run from Cermeno and Souverbie, Perpignan struggled to work with the ball, and fell nine points behind after two further penalties from Delaigue before the half-hour.

Toulouse chose their moment to pounce, and scored the first try of the game moments later, when a line-out down the right-wing saw France star Clerc score in the left corner, after a barnstorming straight run from centre Yannick Jauzion, a missed tackle from Edmonds and a flat miss pass created the gap for the try.

Delaigue converted from way out wide, and at 16 points down, Perpignan got more desperate. Having turned down a shot at goal from a penalty moments earlier, Edmonds then lost his patience and attempted a drop-goal against the wind, but predictably it blew wide, as his side tried in vain to grab a foothold on proceedings, despite their good work up front.

The Catalan pack continued to leak penalties after frequent ill-discipline at the contact area, and just before the interval there was a fourth penalty for Delaigue, who had earlier spectacularly cleared from his own line after a charge-down, fly-hacking the ball all of 60 metres to safety from a dangerous five-metre scrum.

After the break, Perpignan started their assault on the scoreboard, a flowing move down the right-wing being halted by a handling error, although referee Spreadbury had spotted an earlier offence, leaving Edmonds to slot the easy penalty.

One of the best tackles of the day then came, not from one of the players, but an Irish steward, after a male streaker ran on to the field, but neither team was too distracted, and Perpignan again spurred the Toulouse defence into action when a drop-goal attempt was charged down, and Cermeno pounced on the loose ball to break, fullback Clément Poîtrenaud sprinting back to cover.

Edmonds missed an elementary drop-goal attempt from right in front of the posts soon after as they continued to pressure, and on 50 minutes he struck his second penalty after Ntamack had deliberately knocked on down the left-wing.

Delaigue continued to gain territory with some diagonal punting, and succeeded, but Perpignan countered through Edmonds' third penalty in front of the posts, with replacement hooker Marc Dal Maso finally finding his jumpers in the line-out after Konieckiewicz's departure.

Perpignan got to within five points when an aerial tackle by Jauzion in his own half saw Edmonds strike a fourth penalty from in front, but with Toulouse running the clock down, it looked as if their opponents' new-found impetus had come too late.

Toulouse conservatively opted for a series of short rucks to consume some time, and when Delaigue struck a penalty from the right touchline, the game was effectively over, with Perpignan needing two scores.

They did however ensure a tense end when the best try of the match came in the dying seconds, Edmonds showing marvellous vision and executing a Carlos Spencer-esque diagonal kick with the outside of his boot from the 22, finding Bomati in acres of space down the right-wing - the ball bouncing kindly as he touched down for the try.

Edmonds' attempted conversion struck the upright, but the Catalans - five points down - did not have any more time to eat into the deficit, with the whistle going straight after, and the travelling Toulouse fans dancing in the rain as their men reclaimed the Heineken Cup.

A classic it was not, but there was grit aplenty, and French club rugby showed that it is certainly not short on edge, even if the skill levels were sadly below par from both sides.

Man of the match: Hard to pick a standout performer from a game littered with errors, but the go-forward momentum and no-nonsense approach of Toulouse No.8 Christian Labit was a major factor in their coping with the strong Perpignan pack. Notable mentions for fellow back rower Trevor Brennan and wing Emile Ntamack, while Perpignan fullback Jean-Marc Souverbie and blindside Grégory Le Corvec had big games in a losing team.

Moment of the match: More for its skill than its impact on the game, but Manny Edmonds' kick for Pascal Bomati's last-minute try was right out of the top-drawer, firstly because of his brilliant vision, but mainly because of the perfect execution with the outside of the boot on the 22, finding Bomati in space down the right-wing for an easy score. Too little too late, sadly for Perpignan.

Villain of the match: Apart from the handling of both teams, who knocked on frequently, there were no stand-out villains. Toulouse centre Yannick Jauzion tackled a Perpignan player in their air following his own ill-timed late chip out of defence, so he is the recipient of our award in a game which had the odd scuffle, but no major problems.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Try: Clerc
Cons: Delaigue
Pens: Delaigue 5

For Perpignan:
Try: Bomati
Pens: Edmonds 4

The teams:

Toulouse: 15 Clément Poîtrenaud, 14 Emile Ntamack, 13 Xavier Garbajosa, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Yann Delaigue, 9 Frédéric Michalak, 8 Christian Labit, 7 Jean Bouilhou, 6 Trevor Brennan (Finau Maka, 68), 5 Fabien Pelous (captain), 4 David Gérard, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux (Cédric Soulette, 71), 2 Yannick Bru (William Servat 15), 1 Benoit Lecouls.
Unused Replacements: 18 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Sylvain Dupuy, 21 Cédric Heymans, 22 Cédric Desbrosse.

Perpignan: 15 Jean-Marc Souverbie, 14 Pascal Bomati, 13 Pascal Giordani, 12 Christophe Manas, 11 Frédéric Cermeno, 10 Manny Edmonds, 9 Ludovic Loustau, 8 Phil Murphy (Lionel Mallier, 64), 7 Bernard Goutta (captain), 6 Grégory le Corvec, 5 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 4 Jerome Thion, 3 Nicolas Mas (Stéphane De Besombes, 59), 2 Michel Konieckiewicz (Marc Dal Maso, 57), 1 Renaud Peillard.
Unused Replacements: 18 Christophe Porcu, 20 Jacques Basset, 21 Nicolas Laharrague, 22 David Marty.

Referee: Chris White, Tony Spreadbury, 16 mins (both England)
Touch judges: Tony Spreadbury, Robin Goodliffe (both England)
Television Match Official: Brian Campsall (England)

By Mark Smith