TOUL
No.Name
15Delon Armitage, FB
14Drew Mitchell, W
13Mathieu Bastareaud, C
12Matt Giteau, C
T
11Bryan Habana, W
10Jonny Wilkinson, FH
2
2
9Sebastien Tillous-Borde, SH
1Xavier Chiocci, P
2Craig Burden, H
3Carl Hayman, P
4Bakkies Botha, L
5Danie Rossouw, L
6Juan Smith, FL
T
7Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, FL
8Steffon Armitage, N8
Replacements
16Jean Charles Orioli, R
17Alexandre Menini, R
18Martin Castrogiovanni, R
19Ali Williams, R
20Virgile Bruni, R
21Maxime Mermoz, R
22Michael Claassens, R
23Jocelino Suta, R

*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold

Game Info

Venue: Principality Stadium
5:00 PM, May 24, 2014
All CommentaryKey Events

Match Commentary

81'23-6 End of half
81'23-6 End of half
81'23-6 End of second half
80'The last rites as the crowd amuse themselves ... Habana almost breaks but drops the ball and the moment has gone ... and seconds later that is that. Comprehensive win and Saracens can have no complaints about the result. Toulon retain the trophy, only the third team to do so
78'And another turnover ends with Virgile Bruni almost pushing through to the line. As all eyes turn to Jonny Wilkinson as he heads off for the last time in Britain, to a rousing and utterly deserved reception
78'Player substituted - Jonny Wilkinson , Toulon
78'Substitute on - Maxime Mermoz , Toulon
77'Saracens have a good break down the line which fizzles out
75'Undone by an accidental offside as they went for the line. A chance for the Saracens to get some respite
74'Toulon have a scrum on the Sarries 5m line. Drop-goal attempt or scrum ...?
73'Steffon Armitage almost broke through but was undone by the pudding of a pitch as he lost his footing and slipped. The watching Stuart Lancaster must have been impressed with him today ... even though at the moment he can't pick him!
72'Substitute on - Virgile Bruni , Toulon
72'Player substituted - Juan Smith , Toulon
71'Saracens concede another penalty, tired and looking as if they have given their all and not really made any impression on a robust Toulon defence
71'Player substituted - David Strettle , Saracens
71'Substitute on - Chris Wyles , Saracens
70'Substitute on - Michael Claassens , Toulon
70'Player substituted - Sebastien Tillous-Borde , Toulon
70'Substitute on - Jamie George , Saracens
70'Player substituted - Schalk Brits , Saracens
68'Er ... well, who would have predicted that. Mathieu Bastareaud goes for the drop-goal ... yes, the drop-goal. He doesn't really get it quite right
67'Saracens look weary, still tackling hard but the edge seems to have gone. Toulon may score again, they have the spring in their step
65'Player substituted - Alistair Hargreaves , Saracens
65'Substitute on - Mouritz Botha , Saracens
65'Substitute on - Richard Barrington , Saracens
65'Player substituted - Mako Vunipola , Saracens
65'Substitute on - Charlie Hodgson , Saracens
65'Player substituted - Owen Farrell , Saracens
64'Farrell heads off. No doubt who has won the much-touted Farrell-Wilkinson showdown. It's been man against boy
64'23-6 Penalty goal - Jonny Wilkinson , Toulon
63'Easy from close to halfway. Could not have been more central between the posts than that
62'Very poor theatrics from Bryan Habana who tries to con the referee into sending Farrell off for a high tackle. Warned by the referee who politely says that kind of thing is not needed. He got the penalty and lost some credibility
62'Substitute on - Jackson Wray , Saracens
62'Player substituted - Jacques Burger , Saracens
62'20-6 Conversion - Jonny Wilkinson , Toulon
61'Toulon have one hand on the trophy, and Wilkinson unruffled as he slots one he could get in his sleep
60'18-6 Try - Juan Smith , Toulon
59'Toulon now running the ball around with renewed vigour ... and they break, Saracens chasing shadows ...and Juan Smith rounds it off with the try. Wilkinson to Bastareaud who draws players, a 1-2 between Smith and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and that could be that
58'Giteau deep kicks to the try line, Ashton gathers, slips but has enough time to clear his lines
57'Player substituted - Carl Hayman , Toulon
57'Substitute on - Martin Castrogiovanni , Toulon
56'A glimpse of a break as Farrell found space but his pass to Ashton was pressurised and within a second the moment had gone
55'Player substituted - Matt Stevens , Saracens
55'Substitute on - James Johnston , Saracens
54'13-6 Penalty goal - Jonny Wilkinson , Toulon
53'Never looked like missing, unerringly between the posts
52'Billy Vunipola peanlised for not releasing and it's within Wilkinson range
52'Substitute on - Jocelino Suta , Toulon
52'Player substituted - Danie Rossouw , Toulon
52'Player substituted - Bakkies Botha , Toulon
52'Substitute on - Ali Williams , Toulon
51'Another scrum. High on effort, low on skill. And another scrum gets reset and the boos start from the Toulon fans who feel the ref is not giving them a fair crack in the set pieces. A swathe of replacements as well. Replacing Botha and Rossouw with Williams and Suta is like replacing a battering ram with a trebuchet
51'Player substituted - Richard Wigglesworth , Saracens
51'Substitute on - Neil de Kock , Saracens
47'Lineout won by Toulon but a deliberate obstruction on Alistair Hargreaves stops play and back for the earlier knock-on
46'
46'Player substituted - Xavier Chiocci , Toulon
46'Substitute on - Alexandre Menini , Toulon
46'10-6 Penalty goal - Owen Farrell , Saracens
45'Owen Farrell makes in 2/3 for him, simple kick. And, as expected, Chiocci departs and is replaced by Alexander Menini
44'Xavier Chiocci penalised once more in the scrum on the Toulon 22. Mind you, that feed was as crooked as yiu will ever see, not that it seems to matter. Chiocci may come off or he will be sent off
42'Some crunching tackles there, the sort that make you wince when you watch the slow-motion replays. And both sides have another big game next weekend
41'Saracens start brightly but making as much impact on the Toulon defence as a man attacking a rock with a toothpick
41'Player substituted - Craig Burden , Toulon
41'Substitute on - Jean Charles Orioli , Toulon
41'10-3 End of first half
40'Alex Goode chases back and almost gets caught in his 22, wriggles clear but finally evades the enclosing opposition. That's it for a first half which contained some crunching tackles but was very stop-start
40'10-3 Start of second half
39'Toulon once more defend in depth, Saracens don't look like breaking this line any time soon
38'10-3 Drop goal - Jonny Wilkinson , Toulon
37'Impactful driving maul from the lineout into the Saracens 22. And from it Jonny Wilkinson drops a goal from wide just outside the 22. Effortless. Easy. Typical.
36'Saracens lose the initiative as Matt Stevens penalised for playing the ball on the ground inside the Toulon 22
32'Toulon forced into some strong defence as Ashton carves through defenders. Bakkies Botha takes a big hit to the back as he gathered that
31'Shows benefits of two playmakers at 10 and 12 - suck in defence through the middle then exploit the space
31'7-3 Conversion - Jonny Wilkinson , Toulon
30'No surprise as Wilkinson slots the kick from the touchline
30'5-3 Try - Matt Giteau , Toulon
29'Finally we have some rugby and a lovely try from Matt Giteau. Wilkinson switched direction, a long kick from Giteau, a slightly lucky bounce and Giteau was in support as Drew Mitchell gathered it and he was clear
27'Craig Burden piled over with a clearout. Referred upstairs but nothing seen. Apparently.
26'
25'A bit stop-start now, lots of time off and time on. This game needs something and also needs some noise. The TMO into action for a tackle in the air. Which was at most a penalty but he tried to hold back. Penalty but not punishment the right call.
22'Owen Farrell misses the kick 1/2 for him and 1/3 for the team
22'Yellow card - Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe , Toulon
21'"I'm going yellow unless I see something else" warns Rolland. And Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe walks for the tackle in the air as he pulls the shirt of Alistair Hargreaves causing him to fall on his back
20'Finally Farrell misses with a drop goal. And finally Rolland asks if there are things to report as a few of those tackles looked interesting. The TJ has seen something for sure but not enough to warrant a replay and he seems to be right as we benefit from replays
19'Saracens on the charge, Billy Vunipola punches holes, side to side but the French defence holds. Bodies everywhere as the tackles fly in.
18'Our man in the stands reports the Toulon fauthful making a noise but not a lot otherwise
17'Armitage brothers fail to communicate and a harmless ball bobbles into touch as they discuss the time of day
15'Richard Wigglesworth's kick charged down and the ball squirms off the side just before Toulon can touch it down
14'Sebastien Tillous-Borde with a lovely kick to touch deep into the Saracens 22
12'Marcelo Bosch lacks the distance and the line as well, so a let off for Toulon
11'Another penalty against Toulon - hands in the ruck this time - and this is about eight metres inside the Toulon half. Again the referee warns Toulon about scrums, urging them to take control
10'Again it goes wrong. "Are we going to sort this out ... you're ruining it for everyone here' says Rolland. Fair enough
9'Scrappy lineout, another scrum. Toulon want this one to go without incident. Matt Stevens has the upper hand so far
8'Again Toulon bring the scrum down - again it is Xavier Chiocci who is warned - and Richard Wigglesworth finds touch
6'Poor kick for touch from Alex Goode, one bounce and doesn't find it
5'Powerful runs at the defence, Saracens hold firm but strong attacks and they get a penalty to give them relief
4'Toulon regroup and start strongly from the kick-off
4'0-3 Penalty goal - Owen Farrell , Saracens
3'Owen Farrell starts well, good kick. Not the hardest but his run-up looked as if it was being made on a rice pudding
1'Here we go for the second half, a mountain for Saracens to climb even if they only trail by seven points
1'What a start as Chris Ashton chases the kick off and piles into the receiver. Benchmark set and Sarries have a scrum inside the 22. And before they push the pitch falls away under them. Here we go again with another substandard surface for a top game ... but Saracens have a penalty from it
1'Welcome to the Millennium Stadium where the roof is closed on a wet Cardiff for the last Heineken Cup final Nice touch to mark the last final as Emile Ntamack and Joe Van Niekerk pick up the first cup from 1996 and last year's. A hell of a noise as the teams walk out side by side. Would have been nice to let the crowd speak for itself without the endless music but ...
1'0-0 Start of first half

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