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Bath outside-half Jon Callard looks back to the year when he played in the Bath side that became champions of Europe, on January 31st 1998, at the Stade Lescure, Bordeaux.
"People talked about conquering Europe before we went professional, it was a target that no-on ever has the opportunity to achieve. When the game went professional and the Heineken Cup was started, then winning that trophy was certainly everybody's goal.
To win the Heineken Cup takes a special type - now sides are so good, your tactics have to be so sharp, against all sorts of opposition. Cup games are battle within battles - in the year that we won it, we were a good cup rugby side.
The semi final was a unique experience. Pau were no mugs and they had a potent back line, but we felt that with the home advantage and our passionate support we could pull trough. It wasn't a classic match in terms of free flowing rugby, but in terms of tense affairs, it's right up there with the best of them.
And then we'd made it to the final. It was a day out - a chance to play on the big stage. I remember standing in the tunnel next to Brive and they were ranting and raving, and, in that tunnel with everything reverberating around you, its something you don't easily forget!
It was un-chartered territory, certainly for the likes of us, we'd played in big Cup finals at Twickenham, but there's more romance with the Heineken Cup. It is as close to playing international rugby as you get.
The support we had was fantastic. It was just a sea of blue, black and white one end, and it certainly matched the support of Brive, but the noise was just unbelievable!
Technically there was a lot of good rugby that day. I think the defining moment of the match was when we were awarded a penalty after about six or seven scrums on our line - we could have conceded a try, but our pack were awesome.
When we came back into Gatwick, the local paper put a bus in the local park, and it was incredible. There must have been about four thousand people there - and those were people who had not travelled to the game!
As an achievement with the club, it's simply the best."
THE 1998 FINAL
31 January, 1998 Stade Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 36,500
BATH 19 BRIVE 18
Half-time: 6-15
BATH: J Callard; I Evans, P de Glanville, J Guscott, A Adebayo; M Catt, A Nicol (captain); D Hilton, M Regan (F Mendez 78), V Ubogu, M Haag, N Redman, N Thomas (R Earnshaw 71), R Webster, D Lyle
Scorer: Try - J Callard; Conversion - J Callard; Penalty goals - J Callard 4
BRIVE: A Penaud; J Carrat, C Lamaison, D Venditti, S Carrat (S Viars 76), L Arbizu; P Carbonneau (captain); D Casadei, L Travers, R Crespy (D Laperne 50), E Alegret, Y Manhes, L van der Linden, O Magne, F Duboisset (R Sonnes 71)
Scorers: Penalty goals - C Lamaison 5; Drop Goal - A Penaud
Referee: J Fleming (Scotland)
