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22 stats you should know ahead of the Champions Cup Final

By Online Editors
Leinster captain Isa Nacewa

Saturdays Champions Cup final promises to be a mouthwatering affair, between two giants of European rugby.

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Even for the neutrals, this promises to be quite the spectacle, so here’s everything you need to know ahead of one of the biggest events in the rugby calendar.

• This will be the third meeting between the clubs with Leinster winning both pool stage encounters in 2010/11, each by a margin of more than 15 points.

• Leinster will equal Toulouse’s record of four European Cup titles if they are victorious in Bilbao.

• Racing 92 have reached the Champions Cup final for the second time in the last three years. They were runners-up to Saracens in Lyon in 2016.

• With eight wins to date, Leinster could emulate Saracens’ record of nine in a Champions Cup-winning season.

Johnny Sexton played eight times for Racing 92 in the European Cup between 2013 and 2015 scoring 56 points.

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• Leinster have averaged 3.8 tries per game this season, more than any other side, while only Munster (1.5) have conceded fewer five-pointers on average than Leinster or Racing (both 1.8).

Cian Healy, Johnny Sexton, Isa Nacewa and Devin Toner were all in Leinster’s match day squads in their three Champions Cup finals to date, while Head Coach Leo Cullen also started as captain in each of those victories.

Leone Nakarawa has made 20 offloads this season, eight more than any other player, and 14 more than any other player who could feature in the final. He is also the only player from either of these clubs to have played the maximum 640 minutes this season.

• Johnny Sexton (21/24) has an 88% goalkicking success rate in the Champions Cup this season, the same as Racing’s injured place kicker Maxime Machenaud (29/33). Sexton has succeeded with 11/11 kicks in the knockout stage so far, landing seven conversions and four penalties.

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Luke McGrath has made six try assists in the Champions Cup this season, more than any other player.

• If Racing are successful on Saturday week, they will become the fourth French club to win the European club game’s blue-riband tournament – Toulouse (1996, 2003, 2005, 2010), RC Toulon (2013, 2014, 2015) and Brive (1997).

• The Racing 92 trio of Dan Carter (Crusaders 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008), Joe Rokocoko (Blues 2003) and Ben Tameifuna (Chiefs 2012, 2013), as well as Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park (Hurricanes 2016), are bidding to complete the double of Champions Cup and Super Rugby titles.

• Johnny Sexton’s 28 points against Northampton Saints in 2011 is the second-highest individual total in the 22 finals to date. Stade Francais Paris’ Diego Dominguez kicked 30 points against Leicester Tigers in 2011, but still ended up on the losing side.

• Racing’s Wenceslas Lauret, who made a match-high 20 tackles in the semi-final win over Munster, is hoping for third-time lucky in Bilbao. The in-form back row lost in the final with Biarritz Olympique in 2010 and lost again with Racing in Lyon two years ago.

• Four Leinster players – Cian Healy, Isa Nacewa, Johnny Sexton and Devin Toner – could equal the record of four European Cup winners’ medals held jointly by Cedric Heymans (Toulouse) and Frederic Michalak (Toulouse and RC Toulon).

• The final will be Dan Carter’s last European club match. The legendary New Zealander, who has won every major trophy in the game except the Champions Cup, started against Saracens in the 2016 decider in Lyon before being replaced due to injury.

• Leinster’s Leo Cullen. and Racing 92’s Laurent Travers are bidding to become the first men to win the tournament as both player and coach.

• With more than 950,000 fans already through the Champions Cup turnstiles this season, the total tournament attendance for 2017/18 will pass the 1 million mark in Bilbao.

• Match referee, Wayne Barnes, will be in charge of his second European Cup final and his 70th tournament fixture.

• If selected for the final, Sean Cronin will make his 50th tournament appearance in Bilbao, while Yannick Nyanga with 77 appearances (Racing 17, Toulouse 58, Béziers 2) and Rob Kearney with 72 will be the most experienced European Cup players in the line-ups.

• The final will be Racing’s 55th European Cup match.

• Spain will become the sixth country to host a European Cup final after England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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J
Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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