Biarritz and Toulouse through to Heineken Cup Final
After two intriguing Heineken Cup semi-finals, the line-up for this year’s final has now been confirmed, and it will be an all-French encounter after all.
Despite the best efforts of the two Irish sides, Biarritz and Toulouse proved too strong in their respective matches against Munster and Leinster, subsequently securing their places at the Stade de France on May 22nd.
Over the past four years, a team from Ireland has won the European Cup on three occasions. However, the Magners League’s recent dominance in this competition has now been temporarily brought to an end following the weekend’s semi-final defeats.
For the first time since 2005, a French side will lift the most coveted and prestigious trophy in European club rugby; and Toulouse – the most successful outfit in the competition’s history – will be gunning for their fourth title after beating the reigning European champions, 26-16.
It’s the sixth time that Toulouse have reached the Heineken Cup Final, a record which coach Guy Noves revealed he takes great pride in.
Two quick-fire tries from Yannick Jauzion and David Skrela put the hosts in firm control after the break, but Leinster battled on valiantly and pulled one back through Jamie Heaslip.
Some accurate kicking from the consistent David Skrela and Vincent Clerc eventually settled the tie in favour of the Top 14 outfit, who will go into this year’s final as the favourites. After the match, Leinster head coach Michael Cheika rued his side’s inability to retain possession and admitted that his team could have done more to reach their second consecutive final.
"What killed us was the management of our possession. We let ball go too easily and probably kicked it away too much," the disappointed Leinster coach commented.
Toulouse boss, Noves, revealed that he was a huge fan of Biarritz in the aftermath of his side’s victory, and hoped that they would beat Munster to make it an all-French final.
The 2006 Heineken Cup finalists duly obliged by securing an 18-7 victory over Tony McGahan’s men on Sunday afternoon, ensuring it would be the third time the final has been contested by two Top 14 sides.
Biarritz had scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili to thank for their impressive victory. The France international was at his clinical best in San Sebastian, scoring six penalties – all of Biarritz’s points – to seal the club’s second ever appearance in the showpiece final.
"This is very emotional - we left everything out there," the delighted scrum-half said. "We were in a bit of bother in the first half - but we realised that our mental strength, solidity and team spirit could get us through and we proved our mettle."
Proved their mettle, they most certainly did. At half time it was 7-3 to the visitors, who looked on course to repeat the success of the 2006 Heineken Cup Final with another narrow victory over the French side.
However, Biarritz finally got revenge for that fateful afternoon at the Millennium Stadium, and will now face their fearsome compatriots in just under three weeks time.
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