Toulon completed the European double on Saturday, beating Castres 18-10 to win the French Top 14 final just eight days after retaining the Heineken Cup. It was a fitting send off for Jonny Wilkinson, who says he’s one of the luckiest people alive.
By now you’ve probably seen the highlights or heard about what happened, but for those that haven’t and for the sake of our archives, below is a nice highlights package that shows the key moments from the final, as well as some of the Toulon celebrations post match.
While the Heineken Cup may seem like a bigger achievement, this is the one that all French teams strive for, and it’s been over twenty years since Toulon last raised the famous Bouclier de Brennus.
Wilkinson bowed out in style by not only winning two of the most biggest titles on offer, but ended on a personal high by scoring 15 points with the boot. That included a trademark wrong-foot-right-foot drop goal. Delon Armitage kicked the other three points with a long range penalty.
On Monday he tweeted that it’s been: ‘An amazing honour to have been part of this Toulon squad four the last 5 years, to have seen what I have and to have played with such legends’.
Castres scored the only try of the game through Scottish back Max Evans, but Toulon’s might showed and their stars came to the fore up front, allowing Wilkinson to take the points of offer.
Congratulations to all involved and farewell to the likes of Wilkinson, and former Springboks Danie Rossouw and Joe Van Niekerk, who are also retiring from rugby.
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