List of European Rugby Champions Cup finals

The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union competition for European clubs whose countries compete in the Six Nations Championship. Introduced in 2014, the competition replaced the Heineken Cup, which had been run by European Rugby Cup (ERC) since 1995, following disagreements between its shareholders over the structure and governance of the competition.

List of European Rugby Champions Cup finals
Current season or competition:
2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
SportRugby union
Instituted1995
Number of teams24
CountryInternational club (European Professional Club Rugby)
Holders Toulouse (2023–24)
Most titles Toulouse (6 titles)

It is organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), with teams qualifying via their final positions in their respective national/cross-border leagues (Premiership, Top 14, and Pro14). The winners of the first final were French team Toulouse, who beat Welsh side Cardiff 21–18 after extra time.

20 teams initially compete in five separate pools. The top eight teams from the pools progress to the knockout stage. If the score in a knockout match is a draw after 80 minutes of regular play, an additional 20-minute period of play, called extra time, is added. If the score remains tied, an additional 10 minutes of sudden-death extra time are played, with the first team to score points immediately declared the winner. If no team is able to break the tie during extra time, the winner is ultimately decided by a penalty shootout. As well as the first final, the 2005 final between French teams Toulouse and Stade Français went to extra time, which Toulouse won 18–12.[1]

Toulouse are the most successful team in the history of the tournament, with six wins. Leinster have won the competition four times, while Toulon and Saracens are third with three wins. Toulon are the only team to have won three consecutive tournaments, from 2013 to 2015. Three teams have played in more than one final and failed to win any of them – Clermont and Racing 92 three times, Stade Français and Biarritz twice. No teams from Scotland and Italy have progressed to the final.

The 2017–18 final was held in Bilbao, marking the first time that the final was contested in a country without a team participating in the competition. The 2020–21 final was relocated from Marseille to London.[2] and the 2021–22 final was held in Marseille instead.[3]

Finals
Key
† Match was won during extra time
§ Team also won domestic league
Heineken Cup era
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Referee
1995–96 Toulouse§ 21–18† Cardiff Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 21,800 David McHugh (Ireland)
1996–97 Brive 28–9 Leicester Tigers 41,664 Derek Bevan (Wales)
1997–98 Bath 19–18 Brive Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 36,500 Jim Fleming (Scotland)
1998–99 Ulster 21–6 Colomiers Lansdowne Road, Dublin 49,000 Clayton Thomas (Wales)
1999–2000 Northampton Saints 9–8 Munster Twickenham, London 68,441 Joël Dumé (France)
2000–01 Leicester Tigers§ 34–30 Stade Français Parc des Princes, Paris 44,000 David McHugh (Ireland)
2001–02 Leicester Tigers§ 15–9 Munster Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,600 Joël Jutge (France)
2002–03 Toulouse 22–17 Perpignan Lansdowne Road, Dublin 28,600 Tony Spreadbury (England)[lower-alpha 1]
2003–04 London Wasps§ 27–20 Toulouse Twickenham, London 73,057 Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2004–05 Toulouse 18–12† Stade Français Murrayfield, Edinburgh 51,326 Chris White (England)
2005–06 Munster 23–19 Biarritz Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,534
2006–07 London Wasps 25–9 Leicester Tigers Twickenham, London 81,076 Alan Lewis (Ireland)
2007–08 Munster 16–13 Toulouse Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,500 Nigel Owens (Wales)
2008–09 Leinster 19–16 Leicester Tigers Murrayfield, Edinburgh 66,523
2009–10 Toulouse 21–19 Biarritz Stade de France, Saint-Denis 78,962 Wayne Barnes (England)
2010–11 Leinster 33–22 Northampton Saints Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 72,456 Romain Poite (France)
2011–12 Leinster 42–14 Ulster Twickenham, London 81,774 Nigel Owens (Wales)
2012–13 Toulon 16–15 Clermont Aviva Stadium, Dublin 50,198 Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2013–14 Toulon§ 23–6 Saracens Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 67,586
Champions Cup era
2014–15 Toulon 24–18 Clermont Twickenham, London 56,622 Nigel Owens (Wales)
2015–16 Saracens§ 21–9 Racing 92 Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon 58,017
2016–17 Saracens 28–17 Clermont Murrayfield, Edinburgh 55,272
2017–18 Leinster§ 15–12 Racing 92 San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao 52,282 Wayne Barnes (England)
2018–19 Saracens§ 20–10 Leinster St James' Park, Newcastle 51,930 Jérôme Garcès (France)
2019–20 Exeter Chiefs§ 31–27 Racing 92 Ashton Gate, Bristol 0 Nigel Owens (Wales)
2020–21 Toulouse§ 22–17 La Rochelle Twickenham Stadium, London 10,000 Luke Pearce (England)
2021–22 La Rochelle 24–21 Leinster Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 59,682 Wayne Barnes (England)
2022–23 La Rochelle 27–26 Leinster Aviva Stadium, Dublin 51,711 Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
2023–24 Toulouse 31–22† Leinster Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London 61,531 Matthew Carley (England)

Performances

By club
Club Champions Runners-up Years as champions Years as runners-up
Toulouse 6 2 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2020–21, 2023–24 2003–04, 2007–08
Leinster 4 4 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2017–18 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Saracens 3 1 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 2013–14
Toulon 3 0 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 —
Leicester Tigers 2 3 2000–01, 2001–02 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09
Munster 2 2 2005–06, 2007–08 1999–00, 2001–02
La Rochelle 2 1 2021–22, 2022–23 2020–21
Wasps 2 0 2003–04, 2006–07 —
Brive 1 1 1996–97 1997–98
Ulster 1 1 1998–99 2011–12
Northampton Saints 1 1 1999–00 2010–11
Bath 1 0 1997–98 —
Exeter Chiefs 1 0 2019–20 —
Clermont 0 3 — 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17
Racing 92 0 3 — 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20
Stade Français 0 2 — 2000–01, 2004–05
Biarritz 0 2 — 2005–06, 2009–10
Cardiff 0 1 — 1995–96
Colomiers 0 1 — 1998–99
Perpignan 0 1 — 2002–03

Player of the Match Award

The following players have been named the Player of the Match in European cup finals since 2005:[4][5][6][7][8]

Notes
  1. Chris White (England) started the 2001 Heineken Cup final as referee, before withdrawing in the 12th minute due to injury, to be replaced by reserve official Tony Spreadbury (England).

References
  1. "Stade Francais 12–18 Toulouse". BBC Sport. 22 May 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. "Marseille to host 2021 European Champions Cup final". The Irish Times. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  3. "EPCR statement – 2021 Marseille finals and semi-final matches". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  4. "Waters reduces Tigers' wingers to a rabble without a cause". The Guardian. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  5. "Rocky: A Leinster blockbuster". Irish Examiner. 25 May 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  6. "Williams happy with Twickenham final". EPCR. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  7. "The rampant rise of Maro Itoje". Rugby World. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  8. "James Ryan's maturity makes difference in game of fine margins". The Times. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
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