RUGBY UNION | ALEX LOWE
Heineken Cup’s greatest final restores faith in a sport at its lowest ebb
Leinster 26 La Rochelle 27
Tens of thousands gather at the old port in La Rochelle to salute the champions
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A great final. The greatest final. The Heineken Champions Cup has had some dramatic denouements down the years but none as staggering as this, with La Rochelle rallying from 17 points down in Dublin, where they were in danger of being drowned in a sea of blue, to defeat Leinster 27-26 and retain the trophy.
There is a World Cup in France on the horizon, which has the potential to be spectacular, but it will have to go some to surpass this: an occasion to fill the heart and restore faith in what is possible for a sport that has given us every reason to question its future.
This competition takes time to get going, and the format revisions being undertaken are vital, but the
