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Witnessing a slice of history
John GriffithsApril 19, 2014
Further to my recent question on crowds, what's the attendance record for a) an ordinary Heineken Cup pool match and b) a Heineken Cup Final? Ben Ross, England
The record for a Heineken Cup pool game was set on December 6, 2008 when 76,569 attended the Stade Français - Harlequins match staged at the Stade de France, Paris. The visitors ran out 15-10 winners that day and went on to head the pool, Stade finishing second but failing to qualify among the best runners-up for the knockout stages.
Despite home advantage (at the Stoop) in the quarter-finals, Harlequins were defeated 6-5 by Leinster, the eventual Cup winners.
The biggest attendance for a final was on May 19, 2012 when 81,774 were at Twickenham to see Leinster beat Ulster 42-14 - the highest score and the biggest winning margin for any of the 18 Finals to date.
John Griffiths is a widely respected rugby historian and is the author of several sports books, a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and co-author of the IRB International Rugby Yearbook. He has provided insight for Scrum.com since 1999.
