Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Perhaps a saying that fits the feeling going around the Clermont camp at the moment. To stick with the metaphor, they're the kind of bridesmaid who make the bride look plain by comparison; they're more attractive and do things that the bride won't do. But, when it's all said and done, no matter how many heads they turn, it's never their special day. But after 13 final defeats on the domestic and European stages - 10 French Championship final losses, two European Cup finals and one European Challenge Cup final - Clermont felt, as they walked onto the Twickenham pitch, that this surely must be their year. Even if they were coming up against a side gunning for an unprecedented third straight title.
The men in white suffered a late blow, though, when fly-half Brock James suffered a thigh strain during the warm-up, so Camille Lopez started and Mike Delany was drafted on to the bench.
Clermont served immediate notice of their attacking intent when England World Cup hopeful Abendanon delivered a brilliant pass to wing Naipolioni Nalaga, but Nalaga lost his radar as the line approached and threw a wild inside pass. The men in white continued to look the more threatening team, though, and two Lopez penalties in quick succession gave them a deserved 6-0 lead as Toulon found themselves on the back foot. Giteau apart – perhaps spurred on by the news that he’s back in the frame for a recall to the Wallaby squad – Toulon were slow into the contest, but they reduced their arrears when Halfpenny slotted a 17th-minute penalty.
But Clermont continued in the ascendancy, and their territorial dominance was rewarded after 25 minutes when Parra charged down his opposite number Sebastien Tillous-Borde's attempted clearance to create an opportunity inside Toulon's half. The ball bounced relatively kindly, yet Fofana's finish was sublime, as he outstripped Chris Masoe along a narrow channel near the touchline to give Clermont a deserved 11-6 advantage.
Toulon, though, were like a python slowly warming up in the sun and began to put the squeeze on the game as the big men – Masoe, Steffon Armitage and Mathieu Bastereau – began to get their hands on the ball and rumble forward. They did not require a second invitation to take their chances when they materialised, and Halfpenny added two quickfire penalties to complete his penalty hat-trick seven minutes before half-time.
Clermont looked to close out the half, yet Toulon were not to be denied, and they conjured an outstanding try just seconds before the break that stemmed from number eight Masoe's powerful run when he smashed off Abendanon in midfield after the Englishman had attempted a clever-but-as-it-turned-out-rather-stupid chip from deep. The stadium clock showed that time was up, so all Abendanon had to do was kick the ball into touch, but he tried a chip and chase that resulted in Toulon gaining a half-chance that they duly accepted. Mitchell also played his part with a clever inside step, but it was largely a case of patient recycling before Bastareaud powered over from close range, with Halfpenny's conversion giving Toulon a 16-11 half-time lead.
Toulon, like the aforementioned giant snake, didn’t let go of its prey after the break and took that momentum into the second period. Armitage bumped off Abendanon through a crunching show of power, creating space out wide, but Giteau threw a wild pass out of the back door when Clermont's line was at his mercy – in hindsight, he may have got there himself with the momentum he had.
Another Halfpenny penalty following a brainless infringement by Noa Nakaitaci (chucking the ball away in touch) made it 19-11, but Clermont grabbed a lifeline when Abendanon showed just why he was voted European player of the year with a stunning score. This time it was his time to field a loose kick and, after darting through a gap, he chipped over Carl Hayman and nonchalantly regathered to dot the ball down by the posts. Clermont may have been being squeezed, but they still had magic up their sleeves as the game entered its final 10 minutes.
Toulon, for several seasons, have been a team built to win, a team that displays a mechanical ruthlessness in the pursuit of victory as opposed to moments of individual genius. Drew Mitchell, though, another Wallaby who will have been buoyed by the overseas rule change by the ARU, had other ideas and turned that presumption straight onto its head with a try even more spectacular than Abendanon’s. Taking a short-ball off Sebastian Tillous-Borde, the Aussie sprinted through a gap and stepped and weaved his way through 6 tacklers to crash over for a world-class try.
It was a world class finish, to a world-class final, played between 2 world class teams. But Toulon, had the edge throughout and, as the final-whistle went, they found themselves going home with an unprecedented third consecutive title of European Champions. Forget the money, forget the Harlem-globetrotter-esque make up of the side – no matter who you are, that is one hell of an achievement.
Now, who’s betting against four?
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