The perception that major sporting finals are normally tight, low-scoring affairs where no quarter is asked nor given tends to ring true when it comes to European club rugby’s principal competition, the Heineken Champions Cup.
The average match points tally in the Heineken Champions Cup is just 38 points, while in the less well-regarded Challenge Cup the average is nine points higher at 47 points.
No doubt this is down to the tension of the occasion, which is far greater when the big European prize is at stake and the fact there is less chance of mismatches given the effort that it takes to get to the final in the first place.
Exeter and Racing 92 produced a marvellous spectacle in last year’s Champions Cup title decider, which was the second-highest scoring final in 25 editions of the competition, the Chiefs coming out on top, 31-27.
The aggregate of 58 points was only six fewer than the all-time best of 64 set by Leicester and Stade Francais in 2001. The following year, however, defending champions Leicester featured in the lowest-scoring final in beating Munster 15-9.
Small margins
For all the talk of French flair, all-Top 14 finals (shaded grey) have tended to be cagey and largely drab affairs, which is why punters would be advised not to get too easily swayed by La Rochelle’s ‘keep the ball alive’ mantra as the first-time finalists prepare to take on a Toulouse side that has lifted the trophy five times.
La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara knew how to play territory better than most in his days with Munster and Ireland, and for all the attacking skills his side have shown in progressing to the final, the competition’s all-time leading points scorer will be well aware that big matches like Saturday’s against Les Rouges et Noir are normally won and lost by small margins.
Challenge Cup conundrum
Meanwhile, all of the last five Challenge Cup finals have had total match point tallies greater than the line set for Friday’s showdown between Leicester and Montpellier (previous Anglo-French finals are shaded in blue).
Given the greasy conditions at Twickenham and Montpellier’s penchant for defence, the bookies have drawn the line at 41.5 points. Looking through history though, only 33% of all 24 Challenge Cup finals have fallen under that mark.
Wasps’ 48-30 victory over Bath in 2003 produced the highest aggregate score of 78, while the very first final, in 1997, Bourgoin 18 Castres 9, is still the lowest.
So, while the 10,000 fans inside the ground are unlikely to see end-to-end rugby, you’d fancy that they would fashion enough scores – either through tries or penalties – to just about beat that mark.
