Toulon beat Clermont Auvergne 24-18 at Twickenham to claim an unprecedented third European title in a row.
Camille Lopez opened the scoring with a penalty following a scrum infringement just five minutes in. Lopez soon doubled Clermont's lead after Leigh Halfpenny was caught in possession while fielding a tricky kick and was penalised for holding on.
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Toulon hit back, though, and a Drew Mitchell break got its reward when Clermont were penalised at the ruck and Halfpenny kicked his team's first penalty of the day.
Both teams continued to battle back and forth before Wesley Fofana grabbed the first try of the afternoon. Morgan Parra charged down a Sebastien Tillous-Borde kick and the ball bounced into the opportunistic Fofana's hands for him to race in unchallenged. Lopez was unable to add the conversion.
Toulon continued to chip away and Halfpenny kicked two more penalties swiftly after to put his team within two points.
They kept up the pressure and, when Chris Masoe counter-attacked a Nick Abendanon kick, the ball went through the phases and Mathieu Bastareaud crashed over in the corner, with Halfpenny adding the conversion on the stroke of half time to give the champions a 16-11 lead.
Toulon started the second half as they ended the first and a great line from Steffon Armitage saw him make hard yards, but Matt Giteau's flick out the back went over the heads of three red shirts with the try line looming.
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Noa Nakaitaci then foolishly threw the ball away after misjudging a kick, and Halfpenny was more than happy to kick the three points from the resulting penalty.
A smart piece of skill from Abendanon saw him cross under the posts after some patient build-up play - the fullback collected a loose ball to chip and collect a dainty kick over the top and score before Lopez added the conversion.
Toulon looked to hit back immediately, but Ali Williams knocked on over the line and Clermont were able to clear their lines from the resulting scrum.
The winning try came from Mitchell with 10 minutes to go. The winger hit a superb line before stepping and outpacing six defenders to score a remarkable solo try.
Halfpenny missed the conversion to keep the score at 24-18 and Clermont continued to penetrate the Toulon defence, but the men in red held firm to clinch their third European crown in as many years.
Calum Gillon
