Wednesday 29 April 2015 17:10, UK
Twickenham hosts its fifth European final on Saturday as Clermont Auvergne and Toulon clash in the Champions Cup final.
With all-England and all-Ireland deciders taking place at English rugby HQ in 2007 and 2012 respectively, it’s now the turn of the Top 14 heavyweights to battle it out in south west London.
Ahead of this eagerly-awaited contest, we looked back at the previous four finals held in Twickenham.
Pat Lam joined Northampton in 1998 they were known as “the underachievers”. They possessed a squad full of England internationals and British and Irish Lions, but had no silverware to show for their efforts.
After three-point victories over Wasps and Llanelli in the knockout stages, Munster stood between Saints and the first major trophy in their 120-year history.
David Wallace scored the game’s only try as Munster led 8-6 at the interval but this game was decided by the contrasting fortunes of both kickers.
Northampton full-back Paul Grayson kicked three penalties but Ronan O’Gara was off target with all four of his attempts. The last of those came in the final minute after the referee failed to spot a Munster knock-on before awarding the Irish province a penalty. O’Gara stepped up but his kick curled inches past the post.
“It was such a fine line,” recalls Lam, who starred for Saints despite struggling with a shoulder injury leading up to the game.
“I remember being underneath the posts looking at Ronan O’Gara’s kick, and I could swear it was going over. It was like the breath of God just blew it to the side.”
Just 12 months after lifting the Challenge Cup, Wasps found themselves in the Heineken Cup final against defending champions Toulouse.
Wasps led for large spells but their French opponents drew level with just three minutes remaining as replacement Jean-Baptiste Elissalde slotted his third unanswered penalty.
Both teams were guilty of some abject kicking during a tense final few minutes, and a poor drop out from Frederic Michalak bounced into Rob Howley’s arms. The scrum-half booted the ball up the wing and gave chase but Clermont Poitrenaud was well positioned to deal with the danger.
However, the Toulouse full-back tried to let the ball go dead, and as he waited for it to bounce into the in-goal area, Howley beat him to the punch and touched the ball down to snatch the most dramatic of victories.
“I will never kick a straighter ball in my rugby career,” said Howley. “I just blindly put my hands on the ball. I didn’t know if I had got the ball down. Poitrenaud is probably still having nightmares about that.
“I think when everyone saw the replay they knew I’d got it down. It was then just a matter of having a quick celebration, a quick drink, and get back for kick-off. I think there must have been around 40 seconds left in the game.
“The day prior to that I was kicking with Shaun Edwards and he told me to be prepared for a huge kicking game, and to never kick and hope. Well the kick and hope actually won us the cup final. He told me afterwards, ‘never listen to me again!’”
Wasps were back at Twickenham three years later for the first all-England final against a Leicester Tigers side bidding to complete a Premiership, EDF Energy and Heineken Cup treble.
Leicester were undone by wily Wasps hooker Rafael Ibanez, who twice caught the Tigers napping from lineouts in the first half which both led to tries.
With just 13 minutes on the clock, Ibanez threw short to scrum-half Eoin Reddan, who raced over in the same corner where Rob Howley scored in 2004.
And Leicester were undone by a similar move six minutes before the interval. Ibanez threw to Simon Shaw and the big second row passed back to the France international, who raced over for another opportunistic score.
Andy Goode reduced Leicester’s deficit to four points at the interval but they were held scoreless in the second half as Alex King kicked three penalties and a drop goal to seal an impressive victory.
“We defended as if our lives depended on it,” said Wasps skipper Lawrence Dallaglio. “That was our greatest ever win in a final."
Having hosted the first all-English final, Twickenham was also the venue in 2012 as Leinster registered a record-breaking win against Irish provincial rivals Ulster.
Joe Schmidt’s side lifted the Heineken Cup for the third time in four years and became just the second team to successfully defend their title. In doing so they also recorded the biggest winning margin and set a record for tries and points scored.
Boasting a team packed with Ireland internationals, World Cup winner Brad Thorn and the electric Isa Nacewa, Leinster were hailed as one of the greatest teams to ever grace the Heineken Cup following a five-try demolition of their neighbours.
Tries from Sean O’Brien and Cian Healy helped Leinster into a 14-6 interval lead, Ruan Pienaar kicking penalties at the start and finish of the first half for Ulster, and the victors put daylight between the sides after the restart when they were awarded a penalty try.
Ulster hit back through a Dan Tuohy touchdown but Leinster finished strongly, with replacements Heinke van der Merwe and Sean Cronin crossing the whitewash in the closing stages.
Leo Cullen became the first captain to lift the Heineken Cup on three occasions, and his second row partner Thorn ranked the triumph ahead of his World Cup win with the All Blacks in 2011.
"When I held up the cup with Brian O'Driscoll, that was just gold," said Thorn.
Watch Clermont Auvergne v Toulon live on Sky Sports 3 on Saturday from 4pm
