2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

Event	2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup
Clermont Saracens 17 28
Date	13 May 2017
Venue	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Man of the Match	Billy Vunipola ( Saracens)
Referee	Nigel Owens ( Wales)
Attendance	55,272
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The 2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-second European club rugby final in general. It was contested by defending champions Saracens of England and French side Clermont at Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Saturday 13 May 2017. ^{[1] [2]} Saracens retained the trophy after claiming a 28–17 victory. ^{[3] [4]}

Background

Reigning champions Saracens entered the final aiming to defend their title, having won the Champions Cup for the first time in their history when they defeated Racing 92 by 21–9 in the 2016 final. The club was also looking to set a new record for most unbeaten European fixtures in a row, after matching the record of 17 held by Leinster. Meanwhile, Clermont were seeking their first top-tier European trophy, following two prior defeats in the 2013 and 2015 finals, both against Toulon.

For the second year running, Welsh referee Nigel Owens officiated the Champions Cup final – in doing so, he also became the first official to referee 100 European club rugby matches.

Route to the final

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

Clermont		Round	Saracens
Opponent	Result	Pool stage	Opponent	Result
Exeter Chiefs	35–8 (A)	Matchday 1	Toulon	31–23 (A)
Bordeaux Bègles	49–33 (H)	Matchday 2	Scarlets	44–26 (H)
Ulster	32–39 (A)	Matchday 3	Sale Sharks	50–3 (H)
Ulster	38–19 (H)	Matchday 4	Sale Sharks	24–10 (A)
Bordeaux Bègles	9–6 (A)	Matchday 5	Scarlets	22–22 (A)
Exeter Chiefs	48–26 (H)	Matchday 6	Toulon	10–3 (H)
Pool 5 winner Team P Pts Clermont 6 26 Bordeaux Bègles 6 14 Exeter Chiefs 6 12 Ulster 6 10		Final standings	Pool 3 winner Team P Pts Saracens 6 24 Toulon 6 16 Scarlets 6 11 Sale Sharks 6 4
Opponent	Result	Knock-out stage	Opponent	Result
Toulon	29–9 (H)	Quarter-finals	Glasgow Warriors	38–13 (H)
Leinster	27–22 (H)	Semi-finals	Munster	26–10 (A)

Match

Summary

After both teams enjoyed attacking spells in the opening 10 minutes without putting points on the board, Saracens opened the scoring when the ball was spread towards the right wing to Alex Goode, who placed a grubber kick behind the Clermont defenders which was collected by Chris Ashton. The try, which could not be converted, saw Ashton overtake Vincent Clerc as the top try scorer in European rugby history. Saracens extended their lead soon after when lock George Kruis powered over from close range for the team's second try, this time converted successfully by Owen Farrell. A short time later, Clermont responded when a break by Aurélien Rougerie set up centre Rémi Lamerat for their first try of the game, converted by scrum-half Morgan Parra. This left the half-time score at 12–7 to Saracens.

In the second half, the first ten minutes again went scoreless, until a Farrell penalty. Clermont then brought the game to within just one point via a team move, which started with full-back Scott Spedding counter-attacking from his own try line and ended with winger Nick Abendanon going over for the try, converted again by Parra. Following an exchange of penalties between Farrell and Parra, which kept the scoreline at a one-point advantage to Saracens, each team had try-scoring opportunities, but to no avail. Finally, in the closing stages, Saracens made their persistent pressure count when Goode crossed the line for a try in the corner, with Farrell landing a difficult conversion from out wide. With one last penalty, Saracens cemented their victory at 28–17, becoming only the fourth reigning champions in the tournament's 22-year history to successfully retain their title.

Saracens Number 8 Billy Vunipola was named the official Man of the Match, while fly-half Owen Farrell was presented with the 2017 ERCC Player of the Year Award. In securing victory, Saracens also achieved a record 18 consecutive unbeaten European games – a record stretching back to the first round of the 2015–2016 cup.

Details

13 May 2017 17:00

Clermont	17–28	Saracens
Try: Lamerat 26' c Abendanon 51' c Con: Parra (2/2) 27', 53' Pen: Parra (1/1) 60'	Report	Try: Ashton 12' m Kruis 21' c Goode 72' c Con: Farrell (2/3) 22', 73' Pen: Farrell (3/3) 50', 57', 78'

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 55,272 Referee: Nigel Owens ( WRU)

Clermont

Saracens

FB 15 Scott Spedding  71' RW 14 David Strettle OC 13 Aurélien Rougerie  54' IC 12 Rémi Lamerat LW 11 Nick Abendanon FH 10 Camille Lopez SH 9 Morgan Parra  75' N8 8 Fritz Lee  64'  66' OF 7 Peceli Yato  61'  64'  66' BF 6 Damien Chouly ( c) RL 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina  46' LL 4 Arthur Iturria TP 3 Davit Zirakashvili  77' HK 2 Benjamin Kayser  67' LP 1 Raphaël Chaume  23'  26'  54' Substitutions: HK 16 John Ulugia  67' PR 17 Étienne Falgoux  23'  26'  54' PR 18 Aaron Jarvis  77' LK 19 Paul Jedrasiak  46' FL 20 Alexandre Lapandry  61' SH 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic  75' FH 22 Patricio Fernández  71' WG 23 Damian Penaud  54' Coach: Franck Azéma

FB 15 Alex Goode RW 14 Chris Ashton OC 13 Marcelo Bosch IC 12 Brad Barritt ( c)  54' LW 11 Chris Wyles  79' FH 10 Owen Farrell SH 9 Richard Wigglesworth  79' N8 8 Billy Vunipola OF 7 Jackson Wray  61' BF 6 Michael Rhodes RL 5 George Kruis LL 4 Maro Itoje  79' TP 3 Vincent Koch  79' HK 2 Jamie George  51' LP 1 Mako Vunipola  77' Substitutions: HK 16 Schalk Brits  51' PR 17 Titi Lamositele  77' PR 18 Petrus du Plessis  79' LK 19 Jim Hamilton  79' FL 20 Schalk Burger  61' SH 21 Ben Spencer  79' FH 22 Alex Lozowski  79' CE 23 Duncan Taylor  54' Coach: Mark McCall

References