For Toulon, who ended the game by giving away a penalty one phase before they were going to give Jonny Wilkinson a chance to drop for extra-time, it was the second time in three years they have fallen at the final hurdle in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Despite suffering two yellow cards, losing Carl Hayman and Steffon Armitage for 10 minutes each in the second half, Toulon hit back to keep in touch throughout a rain soaked game and were level at 18-18 after 65 minutes thanks to another special Wilkinson long range drop goal.

But throughout the night Yachvili had kept just ahead of his English rival in the goalkicking stakes and when he was presented with a 40 metre shot seven minutes from time he stepped up and nailed it.

Biarritz were able to keep their nerve and control the frantic closing stages and in so doing ended their European Cup finals misery by putting behind them the Heineken Cup Final defeats of 2006 and 2010.

It was also a fitting way to bring down the curtain on Sylvain Marconnet's remarkable career. The 36-year-old prop ended up a winner in his 88th European game after losing in Heineken Cup Finals with both Stade Francais Paris and Biarritz.

Yachvili outscored Wilkinson by four penalties to three in a dour first-half, but the Toulon outside half squared things just after the break. Then came the yellow cards and two more Yachvili goals.

It was close to the end, but Biarritz' hunger for a Heineken Cup place got them through in the end. Toulon still have the French Championship to aim for, but this was another lost opportunity as they seek to pick up their first major title since 1992.