2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

The 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-first European club rugby final in general. It was contested by French side Racing 92, and Saracens of England, at the Grand Stade de Lyon, in the Lyon suburb of Décines, France, on Saturday 14 May 2016.

2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Event2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup
Racing 92 Saracens
9 21
Date14 May 2016
VenueGrand Stade de Lyon, Lyon
Man of the MatchMaro Itoje
RefereeNigel Owens (WRU)
Attendance58,017

Saracens defeated Racing 92 by 21 points to 9. This was Saracens first European Cup win, making them the first new champions since Toulon, whose first victory in what was then known as the Heineken Cup came in 2013.[1]

Background

Prior to the draw for the 2015–16 tournament, it was announced that Lyon would host the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup and Champions Cup finals at the newly built Grand Stade de Lyon, while the 2017 finals would be held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2] Two weeks before the match, Nigel Owens was chosen to referee the final.[3] This was Racing's first European Cup final, while Saracens were previously defeated by Toulon in the 2014 Heineken Cup Final.[4] The two teams last met in the tournament the previous season, Saracens having defeated Racing at the quarter-final stage with a last-minute penalty kick.[5]

Route to the final
Further information: 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Racing 92 Round Saracens
Opponent Result Pool stage Opponent Result
Glasgow Warriors[lower-alpha 1] 34–10 (H) Matchday 1 Toulouse 32–7 (H)
Scarlets 29–12 (A) Matchday 2 Ulster 27–9 (A)
Northampton Saints 33–3 (H) Matchday 3 Oyonnax 45–10 (A)
Northampton Saints 9–9 (A) Matchday 4 Oyonnax 55–13 (H)
Scarlets 64–14 (H) Matchday 5 Ulster 33–17 (H)
Glasgow Warriors 5–22 (A) Matchday 6 Toulouse 28–17 (A)
Pool 3 winner
Team P Pts
Racing 92 622
Northampton Saints 619
Glasgow Warriors 614
Scarlets 62
 Final standings Pool 1 winner
Team P Pts
Saracens 628
Ulster 618
Oyonnax 67
Toulouse 65
Opponent Result Knock-out stage Opponent Result
Toulon 19–16 (H) Quarter-finals Northampton Saints 29–20 (H)
Leicester Tigers 19–16 (A) Semi-finals Wasps 24–17 (H)

Racing 92

In the pool stages, fifth-seeds Racing 92 topped Pool 3, winning four of six games. Their first match with Glasgow Warriors was postponed for two months due to the November 2015 Paris attacks, but they went on to win their first two fixtures. After drawing 9-9 with Northampton Saints and winning the postponed match 34-10, Racing inflicted a heavy 64-14 away defeat on the Scarlets. Racing lost their final match 22-5 away at against the Warriors, which was relocated from Scotstoun Stadium to Rugby Park due to heavy rainfall.

On April 10 in the quarter-finals, Racing hosted Toulon at Stade Yves-du-Manoir and narrowly won by 19-16. Two weeks later, they won in the semi-finals by the same scoreline Leicester Tigers at City Ground in Nottingham, England.

Saracens

Seeded first, Saracens won Pool 1 after winning all six of their matches. In the quarter-finals, they won 29-20 against the Northampton Saints at Allianz Park on 9 April, with tries from Chris Ashton and Chris Wyles. Both were converted by Owen Farrell, who also scored all five of their penalties. Two weeks later, they won their semi-final 24-17 against Wasps at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, England.

Match

Summary

The game was played mostly during a heavy rain storm, and featured no tries. Racing 92's scrum-half Maxime Machenaud missed an early penalty kick, allowing Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell to score first, hitting a drop goal from close range to give the Saracens a 3–0 lead. After winning a scrum deep in the Saracens half, Racing's outside-centre Johan Goosen drew the score level 3–3 at 17 minutes. Machenaud was removed from play under concussion regulations on 22 minutes.[6] Farrell scored on a two successive penalties to make the score 9–3 in Saracens' favour. Just before the end of the half, Goosen and Farrell traded penalties to make the score 12–6.[7]

Racing's fly-half, Dan Carter was substituted shortly after half-time, having aggravated his leg injury.[8] Farrell scored another penalty early in the second half to extend the lead to 15–6. As Racing became more aggressive following the 60 minute mark, Goosen scored his third penalty of the game to bring the score to 15–9. Farrell would preserve the lead for Saracens, by scoring two more penalties; once in the 76th minute, and once in the 79th minute for a final score of 21–9 in favour of Saracens.[9]

Maro Itoje was named Man of The Match.[10] Saracens became the first team to win the competition by winning all their matches.[9]

Details
14 May 2016
17:45
Racing 92 9–21 Saracens
Pen: Goosen (3/3) 18', 36', 58'
 Report[10] Pen: Farrell (7/7) 10', 25', 32', 39', 51', 76', 79'
Grand Stade de Lyon, Lyon
Attendance: 58,017
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
FB15 Brice Dulin
RW14 Joe Rokocoko
OC13 Johan Goosen
IC12 Alexandre Dumoulin 57'
LW11 Juan Imhoff
FH10 Dan Carter 42'
SH9 Maxime Machenaud 22'
N88 Chris Masoe
OF7 Bernard Le Roux 77'
BF6 Wenceslas Lauret
RL5 François van der Merwe 66'
LL4 Luke Charteris
TP3 Ben Tameifuna 68'
HK2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c) 66'
LP1 Eddy Ben Arous 76'
Substitutions:
HK16 Virgile Lacombe 66'
PR17 Khatchik Vartanov 76'
PR18 Luc Ducalcon 68'
LK19 Manuel Carizza 66'
N820 Antonie Claassen 77'
SH21 Mike Phillips 22'
FH22 Rémi Tales 42'
CE23 Henry Chavancy 57'
Coach:
Laurent Labit & Laurent Travers
FB15 Alex Goode
RW14 Chris Ashton
OC13 Duncan Taylor 77'
IC12 Brad Barritt (c)
LW11 Chris Wyles
FH10 Owen Farrell 80'
SH9 Richard Wigglesworth 80'
N88 Billy Vunipola
OF7 Will Fraser
BF6 Michael Rhodes 55'
RL5 George Kruis
LL4 Maro Itoje 80'
TP3 Petrus du Plessis 68'
HK2 Schalk Brits 52'
LP1 Mako Vunipola 77'
Substitutions:
HK16 Jamie George 52'
PR17 Richard Barrington 77'
PR18 Juan Figallo 68'
LK19 Jim Hamilton 80'
FL20 Jackson Wray 55'
SH21 Ben Spencer 80'
FH22 Charlie Hodgson 80'
CE23 Marcelo Bosch 77'
Coach:
Mark McCall Brendan Venter

Man of the Match:
Maro Itoje (Saracens)

Touch judges:
George Clancy (Ireland)
Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official:
Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Notes
  1. Due to the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on 13 November 2015, the Round 1 match between Racing 92 v Glasgow Warriors was postponed from 14 November 2015 to 9 January 2016.

References
  1. "Racing 9 Saracens 21: Saracens crowned European champions". The Daily Telegraph. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  2. "Lyon to host 2016 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals with Edinburgh chosen for 2017". European Professional Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  3. "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. "European Rugby Champions Cup final: Racing 92 9–21 Saracens – as it happened". The Guardian. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  5. Lagacherie, Bertrand (14 May 2016). "Finale de la Coupe d'Europe : Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92) aura les clés contre les Saracens". L'Equipe (in French). Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  6. "Maxime Machenaud sort après un choc". L'Equipe (in French). 14 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  7. "Match Report". European Professional Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  8. "Carter concedes defeat to injury". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  9. Standley, James (14 May 2016). "Saracens beat Racing 92 to win first European Champions Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  10. "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
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