Leinster and Munster beaten in 2003 leaving incredulous ERC with empty Lansdowne Road to fill with two French sides
Essentially, we were there doing the same thing. The ERC were handing over food and local olive oil so beautiful in quality, they said, that we could pull the cork and neck it from the bottle. For that we would sell a rugby match taking place in Lansdowne Road between two teams from the South of France, Perpignan and Toulouse.
Munster faced Toulouse and led until the 75th minute when Freddie Michalak’s dive into the corner sent hopes tail spinning towards the exit. In hindsight we did as well as we could. The final Lansdowne Road was more than half full when 28,600 turned up. Former Irish flanker, endearingly known as one of the ‘Fauves’ of Irish rugby, Trevor Brennan, led Toulouse out on to the field.The Irish backrow would later depart from Kiely’s in Donnybrook and, in a cross-city dash, was driven to Dublin Airport by a squad car to join his team-mates on their flight home.
In 2020, Exeter Chiefs beat Racing ‘92 in Bristol behind closed doors in a final that officially had zero fans watching, while the following year another pandemic-affected tournament ended in Twickenham, where 10,000 watched Toulouse beat La Rochelle for a record fifth win. Facing Racing 92 this weekend and on course to be the top seeds in the knock-out phase would, just like 2003, secure an advantageous tenancy in Dublin right up to the final.
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