Stoica Hails Triumph

And Stoica, who won the Shield for the successive season after last season's victory with Castres, was full of praise for his team's efforts as they headed home for a well deserved rest.

"This is a very important result for us and it symbolises a big step forward for the club," said Stoica.

"This has been a very big season for us as it was the first time we have been in the French Championship and in Europe and we have finished well. We have secured our plce in the top 16 for next season and claimed a European trophy.

Montpellier captain Alessandro Stoica hailed their Parker Pen Shield triumph as one of the most important wins of the club's history.

The French club claimed silverware in their first season in Europe after beating Viadana 25-19 at Parma's Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi thanks to tries from Sebastien Buada, Laurent Arbo and Christian Chemin.

And Stoica, who won the Shield for the successive season after last season's victory with Castres, was full of praise for his team's efforts as they headed home for a well deserved rest.

"This is a very important result for us and it symbolises a big step forward for the club," said Stoica.

"This has been a very big season for us as it was the first time we have been in the French Championship and in Europe and we have finished well. We have secured our plce in the top 16 for next season and claimed a European trophy.

"So winning this game against a very tough Viadana team is a great reward for all the hard work we have put in over the last ten months and hopefully now we can progress next season."

Meanwhile the result was a massive blow to their opponents Viadana who came within six points of becoming the first Italaian team to claim a European title.

Full-back Casper Steyn scored all of his team's points, including a late try that set up a grandstand finish, but despite a huge following they could not close the gap.

Director of rugby Franco Bernini said: "We are very disappointed because we really wanted to win this game, not just for ourselves but also for Italian rugby.

"We kept the score close in the first half but our defence was poor at the start of the second and we did not seem to have the confidence to change things in attack when we needed points.

"But we were up against a very strong and organised team and we will learn from this wonderful experience."

Meanwhile the result was a massive blow to their opponents Viadana who came within six points of becoming the first Italaian team to claim a European title.

Full-back Casper Steyn scored all of his team's points, including a late try that set up a grandstand finish, but despite a huge following they could not close the gap.

Director of rugby Franco Bernini said: "We are very disappointed because we really wanted to win this game, not just for ourselves but also for Italian rugby.

"We kept the score close in the first half but our defence was poor at the start of the second and we did not seem to have the confidence to change things in attack when we needed points.

"But we were up against a very strong and organised team and we will learn from this wonderful experience."