Heineken Cup Final
Toulouse 21-19 Biarritz
Toulouse won the fourth Heineken Cup title in their history after defeating Biarritz by a two-point margin at the Stade de France on Saturday afternoon.
The final scoreline flattered Biarritz, who were the inferior side throughout, but threatened to steal it at the death after Karmichael Hunt touched down after 73 minutes.
Toulouse had looked comfortable prior to Hunt’s try and had the boots of David Skrela and Florian Fritz as well as a dominant scrum to thank for laying the foundation for their victory.
Biarritz took a 6-0 lead against the run of play thanks to two penalties from Dimitri Yachvilli, but Florian Fritz pulled back three points for Toulouse with a monster penalty from well over the half way line.
Yachvilli and David Skrela traded penalties to make it 9-3 to Biarritz midway through the first half but Toulouse controlled the remainder of the half and two penalties from Skrela and a drop goal from Fritz gave them a 12-9 half-time lead.
Yachvilli landed a penalty not long after the restart to level the scores, but the scoreline did not reflect the level of dominance enjoyed by Guy Noves’ side.
Skrela brought his personal haul to fifteen points with two drop goals and another penalty as Toulouse looked set to cruise to victory. With less than ten minutes to go however, American speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya burst down the left wing and passed inside for Karmichael Hunt to touch down under the posts.
Substitute Courrent landed the conversion and for a brief period, it looked like Biarritz might snatch an unlikely and undeserved victory. Despite a few nervy moments in the last few minutes, however, Toulouse held on for a deserved victory.
