La Rochelle 17-22 Toulouse: French club clinch record fifth Heineken Champions Cup title after Levani Botia red card
Toulouse become first side to win five Heineken Champions Cup titles, adding the 2021 crown to previous wins in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010, after their first final appearance in 11 years; La Rochelle fell to defeat in their first European Cup final appearance
By Michael Cantillon at Twickenham
Last Updated: 04/06/21 10:45pm
A 22-17 victory over La Rochelle at Twickenham ensured Toulouse became the first side in history to win five European Cup titles, after a costly Levani Botia red card proved pivotal.
Toulouse centre Juan Cruz Mallia - making his first ever European start - grabbed his side's only try, while out-half Romain Ntamack added 17 points via the boot in a final largely dominated by penalties in front of a reduced-capacity crowd of 10,000 - the first game with fans this season.
In an incident-filled, albeit try-less first half, Ntamack registered three penalties, La Rochelle out-half Ihaia West notched four and missed another, while Toulouse flanker Rynhardt Elstadt was sin-binned for cynical play.
The headline moment was Botia's wild red card for a head high tackle at pace on Maxime Medard, but La Rochelle's response to it was fantastic, going in at the break 12-9 ahead.
Into the second period, La Rochelle passed up 10 potential points to further their lead as West slashed a penalty wide, and hooker Pierre Bourgarit knocked on the ball in the act of diving for a try.
Toulouse were denied a score when Cheslin Kolbe was brilliantly tackled into touch by Geoffrey Doumayrou, but Ntamack levelled before Argentine Cruz Mallia scored to shift the final in Toulouse's favour.
Toulouse - featuring in their first final since they last won the European Cup in 2010 - started brightly as Francois Cros made an early break, and when La Rochelle were caught offside after a Jerome Kaino turnover, Ntamack notched the first points with a clean strike from distance.
The lead lasted less than four minutes, when after the Toulouse pack drove early at a La Rochelle lineout before Victor Vito had fully landed, West swerved a kick over on the angle to level things.
The sides continued to trade penalties in an error-strewn opening quarter, as Ntamack punished a La Rochelle maul infringement on 11 minutes, and just three minutes later, West had a chance after a dominant La Rochelle scrum penalty.
West hit the post with his effort, however, with the chasing Botia extremely close to gathering the rebound for a try. In any case, Toulouse carried the ball back over their own try-line, presenting La Rochelle a five-metre attacking scrum and the first big opportunity for a try in the final.
A powerful scrum penalty followed, to which La Rochelle called for another scrum, but the chance evaporated when Botia, running a hard line to meet a pass from the base of the scrum, knocked on near the try-line.
In all, after three five-metre scrums, several phases within the Toulouse 22 and three penalties, La Rochelle were forced to leave without any further points.
Despite their lead, Toulouse had not started well, as Ntamack missed touch with a penalty from hand and Medard knocked on under no pressure.
In a move off the resulting scrum, La Rochelle pair Gregory Alldritt and Uini Atonio collided and were pinged for accidental offside, but Toulouse soon made another error themselves as Ntamack kicked out on the full.
When Toulouse entered the side of a La Rochelle maul on 26 minutes, West had another chance to tie the scores from virtually the same location he had last missed, and on this occasion, he split the uprights for 6-6.
Within a couple of minutes, the final turned, however, as Botia was red carded for his brutally high tackle on Medard after a TMO review, having initially been given a yellow card on the spot by referee Luke Pearce.
La Rochelle responded with huge heart and an aggressive defensive sequence which caused a Medard knock on, and five minutes later, the numbers were levelled when after Atonio carried hard near the Toulouse line, Elstadt cynically played the ball on the ground off feet and was yellow carded.
Referee Pearce, who missed the incident at the time, eventually produced the yellow card but only after the second re-showing off the incident on the big screens.
West tapped over the simple effort to regain the lead, before a harsh-looking call to penalise La Rochelle's Will Skelton for blocking on Ntamack after a kick saw Toulouse presented with a penalty where the ball landed, from which another crisp Ntamack kick levelled matters once more.
La Rochelle would have the final say of the opening period, however, when West drove between the posts after Toulouse's Joe Tekori had gone off-feet.
Into the second half, and with Toulouse still down to 14, West missed a golden chance to increase the La Rochelle lead to six points when he hooked wide after a textbook Bourgarit jackal won a breakdown turnover.
Toulouse looked to have made West and La Rochelle pay immediately when Kolbe - anonymous in the final to that point - sprinted into the corner after waiting for a clever Antoine Dupont kick to sit down, but was denied a try due to Doumayrou's sensational cover tackle.
La Rochelle did pay for West's miss within minutes, though, as a penalty for offside saw Ntamack level the game for a fourth time.
Again, the La Rochelle repost was encouraging, and Bourgarit was inches from scoring a try before knocking on over the line.
From then, a tiring La Rochelle largely looked to keep Toulouse at bay. But after a lengthy TMO review ruled inconclusive as to whether a short-range try had been scored by Rory Arnold, Cruz Mallia finished a sweeping break on the hour mark for the lead.
Ntamack stretched the lead to 10 points into the final 10 minutes, though La Rochelle showed spirit once again when scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow leapt over for a try with seven minutes remaining.
West's third miss of the match - hitting the post with the conversion - left La Rochelle needing a try, and though they pressed hard in a frantic finale, forcing credible claims for two breakdown penalties in attack, Toulouse were the ones left jumping with delight.
