Greatest games: Leicester win European thriller with late try

David Skippers

We take a look at the best ever games from years gone by and today head back to 2001 where Leicester Tigers beat Stade Francais in a dramatic Heineken Cup final.

Lead-up to the fixture

Stade utterly dominated their group, scoring a staggering 36 tries and only conceding four. Although the presence of Italian minnows L’Aquila helped their statistics, the French outfit also comfortably defeated Swansea and Wasps, winning 42-13 and 40-10 respectively.

Their only loss came against the Welsh outfit in the away fixture as they went down 18-16, but the Frenchmen’s domestic and European form was hugely impressive throughout the campaign.

The team’s excellence centred around their gargantuan pack but there was also plenty of talent behind the scrum in the shape of Diego Dominguez, Thomas Lombard and Christophe Dominici, which would unsurprisingly form a stern challenge for the Tigers.

With the game taking place in the French capital, the Parisians had the advantage of home support, but if there was one team that could silence the partisan ‘hosts’ it was England’s powerhouse Leicester.

Stacked with internationals and in the midst of a run which would see them claim four successive Premiership titles, all they needed to complete their greatness was a Heineken Cup success.

The continent’s greatest trophy had so far evaded the Midlanders, with their defeat in the 1997 showpiece event the closest they had got to taking the prize home. In fact, arch-rivals Bath and Northampton Saints were the two sides that had been carrying the flag for England in Europe, but Leicester planned to change all that at the Parc des Princes.

Memorable players involved

It ended up being a battle between the power of Stade and the dexterity of Leicester as they traded blows in very different ways. While the Parisians were reliant on the accurate boot of fly-half Diego Dominguez, the Tigers had a bit more variety to their game.

Although their pack contained established international stars Martin Johnson, Martin Corry and Neil Back, they liked to spread the ball when the opportunity presented itself.

They were far too loose, however, and ill-discipline at both the set-piece and contact area allowed the French outfit off the hook. It gave a chance for Stade’s potent front-row to get to work with Sylvain Marconnet and Pieter de Villiers enjoying their day, while breakdown exponents Christophe Moni, Richard Pool-Jones and Christophe Juillet allowed Dominguez to take a number of penalty attempts.

The Parisians were no saints either and their indiscretions were punished by Leicester goal-kicker Tim Stimpson, who was successful with five three-pointers during the contest. That effort was dwarfed by Stade’s pinpoint Argentinian, though, whose nine penalties and drop-goal meant that John Connolly’s men went into the latter stages 30-27 ahead.

Tries from Leon Lloyd and Neil Back showed the Tigers’ attacking quality but they needed one last piece of inspiration to snatch the victory. Talented playmaker Austin Healey was the catalyst, breaking through and finding Lloyd, before the speedster finished in the corner. That took the Englishmen in front and Stimpson’s conversion from out wide took them four points clear and secured a dramatic victory.

Why it will live long in the memory

The match wasn’t perfect, with errors interspersed with some needless ill-discipline, but it was tense, tight and had a conclusion which continues to be talked about at the top tier of the European game.

Big matches are rarely so drama-filled. From Dominguez’s late drop-goal, which appeared to have secured the win for Stade Francais, to Lloyd’s even later converted try that duly snatched the title from the Frenchmen’s grasp, it was a thrilling end to the contest.

The former Italian international fly-half was utterly magnificent throughout the encounter, kicking goals from all parts of the field. Close in or five metres out, centrally or out wide, Dominguez was pinpoint with his accuracy, but Leicester’s creativity just edged Stade’s belligerence.

While it was rarely successful in the first half, the Tigers continued to try things, despite the pressure of a Heineken Cup final, and it paid off in the second period as Lloyd touched down before Back also went over.

It was a wonderful contrast of styles which eventually saw the try-scoring instincts of the Englishmen take the win when Healey’s magic break gave Lloyd a run-in for a converted score that completed a remarkable encounter.

There have been several close matches in Heineken Cup finals, including the 2004 showpiece that ended in Rob Howley’s memorable effort following Clement Poitrenaud’s mistake, but this arguably eclipses that moment given that it was a piece of brilliance which decided the contest.

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