Toulouse hand themselves the European crown

Toulouse 21 Biarritz 19:THE MOST decorated club in Europe are kings of the continent once more and, so, the old order has been restored. Virtually everything about Stade Toulousain is done with a touch of élan: be it their innate professionalism; structure; philosophy; facilities; and, perhaps, most of all, the way they always try to play the game. Jeu de main, jeu de Toulousain. A game for the hands, a game for Toulouse.

This was never likely to be the classic it might have been or occasionally threatened to be and though the non-French must have felt like they were gate crashing, it was still fun to be there. Hey, Paris in temperatures of 26 degrees? The majority of the players and the crowd were no doubt grateful that the ground was mostly shaded come the tea-time kick-off.

Coupled with the riotous noise and colour, this must be what it’s like to be at a French championship final. In the time-honoured tradition of their domestic final, thousands of supporters from both sides converge around Saint-Germain later that night, and especially Rue de Guisarde, for an informal open-air sing-song. And quite a few Irish fans were happy to join in.

Thanks to advance ticket sales, the Heineken Cup final has become a celebration of the tournament itself and amidst the array of replica jerseys – Leicester, Bath, Ulster, Connacht, Ospreys et al were there – Munster and Leinster fans were clearly the third and fourth most numerous, even if the empty seats belied the official attendance figure of 78,976.

The ERC also ensured an eye-catching contrast, and football-type atmosphere by congregating the majority of rouge et noir at one end and rouge et blanc at the other. The Toulouse fans were the more numerous and noisier, maintaining a virtually unbroken rhythmic din of chanting from beginning to end, and long, long after everyone else had gone home.

In truth, for 70 minutes Toulouse were the only team trying to play rugby, whereupon, out of desperation, Biarritz played for 10 minutes and nearly stole the trophy. It would have been larceny on the grandest of scales.

The key was indeed the scrum, what a resurgence it has had in the last few weeks especially. But far from imposing this as a destructive weapon, the Biarritz pack where shunted around the Stade de France like lightweights. Five times Toulouse came up with monstrous scrums, twice even with Patricio Albacete in the sin bin.

The lines in the sand were drawn in the 10th minute with a monstrous shove on the Biarritz put in when Jean-Baptiste Poux stood up Campbell Johnstone, perhaps not entirely illegally. The “oohs” which echoed around the stadium even included the press box and thereafter Imanol Harinordoquy’s running game was largely negated as he was confined to a huge defensive effort.

That David Skrela’s ensuing penalty hit the upright also set a frustrating tone for Toulouse as well though, for they couldn’t put Biarritz away. You could only admire the BO resilience and scramble defence as they forced innumerable turnovers inside their own 22 at the breakdown (Often bordering on the edge of the laws.) and Toulouse butchered try-scoring openings.

From the first whistle, it was striking how much Biarritz were emotionally and physically up for it. After their first counter-ruck for a turnover almost every player rushed in to congratulate and pat the likes of Karmichael Hunt on the back – Iain Balshaw was congratulated for a tackle as if he’d won the World Cup.

However, Toulouse had most of the game’s outstanding players in the redoubtable William Servat, Poux and Benoit Lecouls, his fellow ex-Biarritz man Thierry Dusautoir (Whose ball-carrying duties for Toulouse make him look a more rounded player than the mere human wrecking ball he is for France.) and Shaun Sowertby.

The ultra-competitive Byron Kelleher – must be the Cork blood! – was typically fierce and feisty while it has to be said that, as in the semi-final, David Skrela delivered in spades, as did Florian Fritz, who augmented his outhalf’s assurance and accuracy with a 55-metre penalty and a drop goal.

Toulouse looked like scoring almost every time they put width on the ball or put their running game into gear, but Maxime Medard’s knock-on with Jean Bouilhou set for a simple run-in typified their inability to deliver a knockout blow.

They faced two moments of crisis, first when Albacete was binned shortly after for tackling Benoit August without the ball and the unerring Dimitri Yachvili made it 12-all. They responded by patiently monopolizing possession for Skrela to pick off a couple of sumptuous drop goals.

Skrela, having then given them a two-score lead with a difficult penalty, prompted them to empty their bench. But no sooner had Servat pumped his fist toward the Toulouse fans than their scrum was pinged for engaging early, and Balshaw and Takudswa Ngwenya carved the opening for Hunt to make it a two-point finale.

Their wise heads remained calm though, and with Alberto Basualdo’s darts on the money, they kept Biarritz out of harm’s way in a taut finale. The old dogs for the long road.

The majority of the Biarritz supporters had not only stayed on after the presentations, but sportingly exchanged applause with the Toulouse players as they completed an entire lap of honour to a booming backdrop of, curiously, that corny sing-a-long “Hey Baby”. Though over-used, “Simply the Best” might have been more appropriate. Indeed, never more appropriate.

Match Statistics

Scoring sequence:4 mins: Yachvili pen 0-3; 16 mins: Yachvilio pen 0-6; 21 mins: Fritz pen 3-6; 29 mins: Yachvili pen 3-9; 32 mins: Skrela 6-9; 36 mins Skrela pen 9-9; 39 mins Fritz drop goal 12-9; (half-time 12-9); 50 mins: Yachvili pen 12-12; 52 mins: Skrela drop goal 15-12; 59 mins: Skrela drop goal 18-12; 68 mins: Skrela pen 21-12; 73 mins: Hunt try, Courrent con 21-19.

TOULOUSE:C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, M Medard; D Skrela, B Kelleher; J-B Poux, W Servat, B Lecouls, R Millo-Chluski, P Albacete, J Bouilhou, T Dusautoir, capt, S Sowerby. Replacements:Y Maestri for Millo-Chluski (59 mins), D Human for Poux (61 mins), C Johnston for Lecouls (64 mins), C Heymans for Poitrenaud (68 mins), L Picamoles for Sowerby, Y David for Fritz (both 71 mins), A Vernet Basualdo for Servat (73 mins). Not used: J-B Elissalde. Sinbinned: Albacete (48-58 mins).

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE:I Balshaw; T Ngwenya, A Mignardi, K Hunt, J Gobelet; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; E Coetzee, B August, C Johnstone, J Thion, capt, T Hall, M Lund, W Lauret, I Harinordoquy. Replacements:F Barcella for Coetzee (51 mins), P Bidabe for Gobelet (59 mins), M Carizza for Hall, F Faure for Lauret (both 60 mins), R Terrain for August (68 mins), V Courrent for Yachvili (71 mns). Not used: R Hugues, A Erinle.

Referee:Wayne Barnes (England).