Scotland rugby international Nathan Hines was denied the chance to join one of the Heineken Cup’s most exclusive clubs when Toulon pipped Clermont Auvergne 16-15 in Saturday’s final in Dublin.
The 36-year-old lock helped Leinster lift the trophy in Cardiff two years ago and was bidding to join Philippe Carbonneau (Toulouse and Brive), Cedric Heymans (Brive and Toulouse), Federico Mendez (Bath and Northampton) and Eoin Reddan (Wasps and Leinster) in a group who have tasted glory with two different teams since the tournament began in 1995.
Hine’s Clermont dominated the game in terms of possession and territory and when they surged 15-6 ahead early in the second half, with tries from Napolioni Nalaga and Brock James, it appeared Toulon were set for heartbreak.
But they refused to concede defeat. Jonny Wilkinson landed a third penalty and then converted Delon Armitage’s breakaway try to nudge Toulon into the lead.
After that it was all hands back to the pump in defence.
Toulon made a remarkable 176 tackles to Clermont’s 66 and they held on to claim a first major trophy in 21 years.
Clermont lost their composure at the death, with David Skrela seeing a drop-goal attempt charged down and Sitiveni Sivivatu blowing their last attacking chance with a forward pass into touch.
Captain Wilkinson described winning the cup with Toulon as a bigger achievement than his World Cup triumph 10 years ago.
He said: “It goes beyond (winning the World Cup) because life is in the now, it is not in the past.”