2022 European Rugby Champions Cup final

2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Event	2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup
Date	28 May 2022
Venue	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Player of the Match	Dillyn Leyds (La Rochelle)
Referee	Wayne Barnes (England)
Attendance	59,682
Weather	Sunny
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The 2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match of the 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-seventh European club rugby final in general. The final was contested between La Rochelle and Leinster with La Rochelle winning the game with a late try.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Despite having hosted a number of Champions Cup semi-finals, the Stade Vélodrome hosted its first European final, two years later than expected after it was rearranged from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

Both Leinster and La Rochelle entered the final on similar form, with both teams having won 7 out of their 8 games in the Championship, with both losses being a default result due to cancellations earlier in the campaign.^{[citation needed]}

This was Leinster's sixth appearance in the Champions Cup Final, winning four and losing one, their last win being in 2018. If Leinster had won, it would have been a record equalling victory for them, joining Toulouse with five European titles to their name. For La Rochelle, this was the second time they have made the final, after they made the final in the previous year. They became the first team since Leinster to appear in back-to-back finals after the Irish side achieved this in 2018 and 2019. La Rochelle's victory was the first major trophy for the club.^{[citation needed]}

The two sides had met just once before in the Champions Cup, with La Rochelle triumphing 32–23 in last season's semi-finals and it was the fifth time that an Irish team faced a TOP 14 club in the European Cup final, with Irish sides having won on each of the previous four occasions.^{[citation needed]}

Route to the final

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

La Rochelle

Round

Leinster

Opponent

Result

Pool stage

Opponent

Result

Glasgow Warriors

20–13 (H)

Matchday 1

Bath

45–20 (H)

Bath

0–0 (A)
(Cancelled)

Matchday 2

Montpellier

0–28 (A)
(Cancelled)

Bath

39–21 (H)

Matchday 3

Montpellier

89–7 (H)

Glasgow Warriors

38–20 (A)

Matchday 4

Bath

64–7 (A)

Final standings

Pool A Top 4
Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Racing 92	4	4	0	0	126	24	+102	16	3	3	0	19
Ulster	4	4	0	0	114	96	+18	15	9	3	0	19
La Rochelle	4	3	1	0	97	64	+33	11	7	2	0	16
Leinster	4	3	0	1	198	62	+136	30	8	3	0	15

Opponent

Result

Knockout stage

Opponent

Result

Bordeaux

31–13 (A)

Round of 16 Leg 1

Connacht

26–21 (A)

Bordeaux

31–23 (H)

Round of 16 Leg 2

Connacht

56–20 (H)

Montpellier

31–19 (H)

Quarter-finals

Leicester Tigers

14–23 (A)

Racing 92

13–20 (A)

Semi-finals

Toulouse

40–17 (H)

Match

La Rochelle

Leinster

Details

28 May 2022
17:45

La Rochelle	24–21	Leinster
Try: Rhule 9' c Bourgarit 60' c Retière 79' c Con: West (3/3) 11', 61', 80' Pen: West (1/1) 41'	Report	Pen: Sexton (6/6) 4', 8', 22', 40+2', 47', 53' R. Byrne (1/1) 64'

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 59,682
Referee: Wayne Barnes: (England)


FB	15	Brice Dulin
RW	14	Dillyn Leyds		67'
OC	13	Jérémy Sinzelle
IC	12	Jonathan Danty		68'
LW	11	Raymond Rhule
FH	10	Ihaia West
SH	9	Thomas Berjon		64'
N8	8	Grégory Alldritt (c)
OF	7	Matthias Haddad		29'
BF	6	Wiaan Liebenberg		53'
RL	5	Will Skelton
LL	4	Thomas Lavault	63' to 73'	74'
TP	3	Uini Atonio		62'
HK	2	Pierre Bourgarit		66'
LP	1	Dany Priso
Substitutions:
HK	16	Facundo Bosch		66'
PR	17	Reda Wardi		53'
PR	18	Joel Sclavi		62'
LK	19	Romain Sazy		74'
FL	20	Rémi Bourdeau		29'
SH	21	Arthur Retière		64'
CE	22	Levani Botia		68'
WG	23	Jules Favre		67'
Coach:
Ronan O'Gara


FB	15	Hugo Keenan
RW	14	Jimmy O'Brien
OC	13	Garry Ringrose
IC	12	Robbie Henshaw
LW	11	James Lowe
FH	10	Johnny Sexton (c)	62'
SH	9	Jamison Gibson-Park	75'
N8	8	Jack Conan
OF	7	Josh van der Flier
BF	6	Caelan Doris	66'
RL	5	James Ryan
LL	4	Ross Molony	76'
TP	3	Tadhg Furlong	62'
HK	2	Rónan Kelleher	14'
LP	1	Andrew Porter	62'
Substitutions:
HK	16	Dan Sheehan	14'
PR	17	Cian Healy	62'
PR	18	Michael Alaalatoa	62'
LK	19	Joe McCarthy	76'
FL	20	Rhys Ruddock	66'
SH	21	Luke McGrath	75'
FH	22	Ross Byrne	62'
CE	23	Ciarán Frawley
Coach:
Leo Cullen