relive the six finals of Toulouse, four times winner of the event

On Saturday 22 May, the final of the European Rugby Cup will pit two teams with European history on the opposite side in Twickenham (London). On the one hand, La Rochelle, a novice at this level of competition. On the other, the Toulouse Stadium and its six European finals, which no other continental club has ever achieved. Small return on these finals, which the club of the Pink City won four times

  • 1996: Toulouse – Cardiff 21-18 (after extra time)

From the first edition of the European Cup, in 1996, Stade Toulouse joined the final of a competition shunned by English clubs. The Toulouse are opposed to the Welsh of Cardiff, at home, in the temple of rugby of Arms Park – destroyed in 1997, replaced by the Millenium Stadium. The preparation is not ideal for the players, installed in a hotel in the heart of the Welsh capital: “With the nightlife there was a lot of noise. Some slept better than others ”, smiles Jérôme Cazalbou, scrum half at the time and now high level manager in the Occitan club.

Toulouse quickly took the lead by scoring two tries in the first ten minutes by Thomas Castaignède and Jérôme Cazalbou. “It is a match that perhaps seemed too simple to us at the beginning”, agrees the latter. The Welsh returned to the game and snatched extra time with a penalty at the last minute of regulation time (15-15). But the teammates of Ugo Mola, now coach of the club, take the situation on their own thanks to two penalties from Christophe Deylaud in extra time to win the first edition (21-18) of the competition.

  • 2003: Perpignan – Toulouse 17-22

Seven years later, Stade Toulouse is back in the final. This Franco-French opposition takes place in another legendary rugby stadium, that of Lansdowne Road, in Dublin (Ireland). As in 1996, the Rouge et Noir are unstoppable in the first period and take off at the break thanks to Vincent Clerc’s try and the precision of his striker Yann Delaigue. “By leading 19-0 at half-time, maybe we eased the foot a little”, concedes Vincent Clerc, a young 22-year-old winger at the time.

The second half changed face and saw Perpignan gradually come back into the game. Manuel Edmonds connects four penalties to allow the USAP to get closer. “We were scared, we created stress because they come back and can still score at the end of the match”, replays Vincent Clerc. “We didn’t feel very much in danger, we just let our guard down a bit”, retains for his part Yannick Bru, hooker and now coach of Rowing Bayonnais (Top 14). At the end of the game, Yann Delaigue offers three points and victory. “A magical moment, extraordinary, describes Vincent Clerc. It was my first title. “

For me, it’s the best European Cup final we’ve played, cowardly, definitive, Vincent Clerc. The level of play was extraordinary, both teams played at a very high level. “ On May 23, 2004, a year after its second title, Toulouse moved to Twickenham (London) to face, at home, the London Wasps who “Dominated European rugby”, according to Yannick Bru.

The debates are intense, each team responds to the other. Jean-Baptiste Elissalde thinks he saved his family by passing a penalty between the poles to, logically, send the two teams into overtime (20-20, 76e). But everything changes. “We had delivered a great match but we lost on a cap test”, remembers Yannick Bru. One minute from time, rear Clément Poitrenaud was surprised by Rob Howley who flattened the English victory test under his nose (27-20, 79e). “We were very, very disappointed”, insists the ex-hooker. “There was disappointment, sadness but also the desire to comfort Clément [Poitrenaud], adds Vincent Clerc.

“I think 2004 helped us. We promised to come back and win. ” The promise made by Yannick Bru and his teammates after the cruel defeat against the Wasps is kept. For the third year in a row, Stade Toulouse is in the final and faces Stade Français, in Murrayfield (Scotland). “These were their big years”, slips Bru.

The game is close. No try is registered and the points are marked at the foot: Jean-Baptiste Elissalde responding to David Skrela. Paris has a three-point lead as the stopwatch stretches up to seven minutes beyond regulation time. Moment chosen by Toulousain Frédéric Michalak (80 + 7e) to equalize with a penalty in front of the poles. “It was a rather enjoyable feeling because we felt that we had been under pressure all the meeting but that inexorably we took the ascendancy at the end of the match”, says Yannick Bru. Toulouse start extra time better than their opponent before Frédéric Michalak “Frees us from a drop that came out of nowhere”, enthuses Vincent Clerc. This is Toulouse’s third title.

The Toulouse winners of the Stade français in Murrayfield, May 22, 2005.

In 2008, Stade Toulouse faced in Thomond Park the Irish province of Munster of a certain Ronan O’Gara – the former opening half is now coach of the Stade Rochelais that the Toulouse meet again on Saturday for the 7e final of their story. Seriously injured in the knee a month earlier, Vincent Clerc observes the meeting of the stands, his eyes red with sadness and emotion. He remembers “Of a brilliant match to see which falls on a yellow card”. It is the emblematic captain Fabien Pelous who is temporarily excluded for having responded to an opposing provocation.

The Munster creates a gap (13-6), Toulouse comes back to height thanks to Yves Donguy (13-13, 54e). Frontline combat torments the players. “At the end of the match, we are dominated by the forwards from Munster so it’s a hard learning for me of European coaching”, admits Yannick Bru who, in charge of the forwards, had just joined the staff. Ronan O’Gara himself scored the three points for victory (16-13, 64e), without Red and Black then succeeding in equalizing. “This is one of the biggest frustrations of my career”, remembers the one who trains the Aviron bayonnais today.

A Franco-French clash at the Stade de France, the poster looks more like a Top 14 final than a European Cup. Toulouse is not disturbed and enters well in its meeting. “I believe that during the match, we are above Biarritz, Yannick Bru analysis. The fact that our striker is not successful pushes us to our limits. “

In the second half, the kicks of David Skrela allow Stade Toulouse to widen the gap (21-12). But the Olympic Biarritz remains hopeful thanks to the test of Karmichael Hunt (21-19, 73e). At the end of the match, we felt that the nightmare could return, we were very tense , admits the forwards coach. Toulouse did not crack and won its fourth European title, a record that only the Irish of Leinster have since equaled in 2018. The golden generation of Poitrenaud-Jauzion-Clerc-Fritz will no longer find the way to the final in the European Cup. Nobody imagines then that it will be necessary to wait eleven years to return there. “I think we didn’t realize how difficult it was to access it”, confesses Vincent Clerc. It is now done with a possible fifth title at stake. It would be a record.

Scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and his Toulouse Stadium partners share their European coronation at the Capitol with their supporters on May 23, 2010.