SA trio win with Toulon
South Africa had reason to celebrate, as their foreign legion helped Toulon beat Clermont 16-15 to win the European Cup on Saturday.
Clermont scored two tries to Toulon's one in a nail-biting match, but three penalties and a conversion from English flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson saw Toulon sneak home.
Brock James opened the scoring for Clermont with an early penalty, later matched by Wilkinson as the teams went into half-time at three points apiece.
Clermont's Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga scored a try early in the second period, followed by a second for James, with Aurelien Rougerie providing crucial off-loads for both.
When James converted his own try, the score stood at 15-6 and it seemed the game was beyond Toulon.
But Wilkinson pulled back three points with his third penalty.
And when Wesley Fofana was caught in possession and turned over by Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and fed to Delon Armitage, the England full-back romped in for Toulon's sole try, converted by Wilkinson for a thrilling victory.
The scorers:
For Clermont Auvergne:
Tries: Nalaga, James
Con: Parra
Pen: Parra
For Toulon:
Try: D. Armitage
Con: Wilkinson
Pens: Wilkinson 3
Teams:
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurelien Rougerie (captain), 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Gerhard Vosloo, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Clement Ric, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Julien Bardy, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 23 David Skrela, 23 Regan King.
Toulon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Rudi Wulf, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson (captain), 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Danie Rossouw, 5 Nick Kennedy, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Davit Kubriashvili, 19 Joe van Niekerk, 20 Steffon Armitage, 21 Maxime Mermoz, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Jocelino Suta.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
