ERC 15 Reflections: English grow to love Europe

It might not be the most glamorous of ties, Bucuresti Oaks against Leeds Carnegie in the Amlin Challenge Cup, but it will be a significant fixture nonetheless.   Why? Because it will be the 2,000th fixture played in the two ERC organised tournaments.

The governing body that gave the rugby playing world one if its greatest innovations, the Heineken Cup, in 1995, and then the Amlin Challenge Cup the following year, is into its 15th season in charge of pan-European club rugby. 

And to celebrate that achievement ERC is planning a season of celebrations which will culminate in a special awards initiative. So, who do you think has been the greatest European player over the past 14 years? What was the best game and who has given the greatest contribution to the rise of arguably the greatest phenomena in the professional game?
The English clubs, like the Scots, may not have jumped in right at the start, leaving the inaugural season of the Heineken Cup to be contested by 12 teams from Ireland, Wales, France, Italy and Romania, but it didn’t take long for the Premiership sides to make their mark. 

What the two European tournaments did was resurrect many of the traditional cross-border rivalries that had fallen by the wayside with the advent of league rugby in the late eighties. More than that, they breathed new life into the professional game and gave the new band of professionals an ultimate challenge. 

Just as Real Madrid lit up football’s European Cup when it was launched in the fifties, so Toulouse and Leicester Tigers grabbed rugby’s European concept by the throat and extended their already considerable reputations as a result. European competition quickly became northern hemisphere rugby’s new frontier and 254 players have earned the right to call themselves Heineken Cup winners since Emile Ntamack lifted the trophy for Toulouse at Cardiff Arms Park on a Sunday afternoon in January in 1996. 

Among that list of legends are players from 16 different nationalities, with 72 Englishmen just leading the way from the Irish. It is a similar story in the Amlin Challenge Cup, where there are 103 English winners among the 254 players who have ended on winning sides. 

Given there are two seasons when the English clubs didn’t take part – they boycotted both tournaments in 1998/99 – it shows how strong the English contribution towards the advance of professional rugby in Europe has been.

For instance, after early French dominance in the Challenge Cup, when the first four finals were all-French affairs, there has been an English team in the final for the past nine seasons. Better than that, eight times the trophy has come back to England, including a victory by Northampton Saints over Bourgoin last season. 

Sale Sharks and Harlequins have won the Challenge Cup twice and London Wasps, Bath and Northampton Saints have distinguished themselves by winning both the Challenge Cup and the Heineken Cup.

It was Bath, albeit led by a Scotsman and bolstered by three Welshmen and an American, who finally broke the French stranglehold on the European silverware when they pipped reigning champions Brive 19-18 in the 1998 final in Bordeaux. Where the west countrymen led, Northampton Saints (2000), Leicester Tigers (2001, 2002) and London Wasps (2004, 2007) have since followed to give the English clubs an incredible return of six Heineken Cup titles in the 12 seasons they have taken part in the tournament.

Great moments for those clubs inspired by some inspirational players. Jonathan Callard grabbed all 15 points for Bath in Bordeaux, Leon Lloyd skipped away for two tries for the Tigers in Paris in 2001 and the irrepressible Austin Healey inspired a second Leicester win at the Millennium Stadium the following year.

Welsh scrum half Rob Howley literally stole the show for Wasps at Twickenham in 2004 when he dived at the feet of Clement Poitrenaud to score the try that gave the Londoners their first title and French legend Raphael Ibanez conjured up a cheeky front of the line-out try in the 2007 final in front of a then world record club crowd of 81,076 Twickenham in 2007 to give them a second crown.

The last two years have been dominated by the Irish, with mighty Munster winning their second title in 2008 and Leinster taking centre stage at Murrayfield in May this year. The Irish contribution to the tournament has been immense and any game against Munster, Leinster or Ulster, who so famously won the tournament in 1999, is not only a battle on the field, but a delight off it.

What ERC has been able to create through its two tournaments in an incredibly short space of time has completely changed the landscape of professional rugby in Europe. Both competitions have provided unforgettable moments, enhanced reputations of clubs and players alike and given everyone in the game something to look forward to.

Vive la difference!

Get involved in ERC 15

* Why not send us your favourite European rugby moment. What is the best game you’ve been to, the greatest try you’ve seen scored or the most influential performance you’ve seen from a player in either the Heineken Challenge Cup?
Send us your thoughts and we’ll put them up on the ERC 15 section of the official ERC website.

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THE HEINEKEN CUP FINALS

Year	Teams	Venue	Attendence
2008/09	Leinster 19 Leicester Tigers 16	Murrayfield	66523
2007/08	Munster 16 Toulouse 13	Millennium Stadium	74417
2006/07	Leicester Tigers 9 London Wasps 25	Twickenham	81076
2005/06	Biarritz Olympique 19 Munster 23	Millennium Stadium	74534
2004/05	Toulouse 18 (AET) Stade Français Paris 12	Murrayfield	51326
2003/04	London Wasps 27 Toulouse 20	Twickenham	73057
2002/03	Toulouse 22 Perpignan 17	Lansdowne Road	28600
2001/02	Leicester Tigers 15 Munster 9	Millennium Stadium	74600
2000/01	Leicester Tigers 34 Stade Français Paris 30	Parc des Princes	44000
1999/00	Northampton Saints 9 Munster 8	Twickenham	68441
1998/99	Ulster 21 Colomiers 6	Lansdowne Road	49000
1997/98	Bath 19 Brive 18	Stade Lescure	36500
1996/97	Brive 28 Leicester 9	Cardiff Arms Park	41664
1995/96	Toulouse 21 (AET) Cardiff 18	Cardiff Arms Park	21800

Amlin Challenge Cup Finals 

2008/09	Northampton Saints 15-3 Bourgoin	Twickenham Stoop	9,260
2007/08	Bath 24-16 Worcester Warriors	Kingsholm Stadium	16,157
2006/07	ASM Clermont Auvergne 22-16 Bath	Twickenham Stoop	10,134
2005/06	Gloucester 36-34 (aet) London Irish	Twickenham Stoop	12,053
2004/05	Sale Sharks 27-3 Pau	Kassam Stadium	7,230
2003/04	NEC Harlequins 27-26 Montferrand	Madejski Stadium	13,123
2002/03	London Wasps 48-30 Bath	Madejski Stadium	18,074
2001/02	Sale Sharks 25-22 Pontypridd	Kassam Stadium	12,000
2000/01	NEC Harlequins 42-33 Narbonne	Madejski Stadium	10,013
1999/00	Pau 34-21 Castres	Des Sept Deniers, Toulouse	6,000
1998/99	Montferrand 35-16 Bourgoin	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	31,986
1997/98	Colomiers 43-5 Agen Des	Sept Deniers, Toulouse	12,500
1996/97	Bourgoin 18-9 Castres	Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers	10,000