Bryan Habana, Bakkies Botha, Juan Smith & Danie Rossouw at Toulon
Toulon’s South African contingent capped an unbelievably successful seven days by lifting the Bouclier de Brennus shield in Paris, after defeating Castres 18-10 in the Top 14 Final to go with their Heineken Cup title.
Former England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson was given the perfect send-off by Bakkies Botha, Juan Smith, Craig Burden and Bryan Habana, who all started the final, with Danie Rossouw and Michael Claassens appearing off the bench.
The match was Rossouw’s last before retirement and brings down the curtain on a truly glorious career in which he was won every trophy available to him, from league titles in Japan, France and Super Rugby to two Heineken Cups and of course the Rugby World Cup and old Tri-Nations.
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Wilkinson kicked all of Toulon’s points, including a customary drop goal, with the likes of Botha and Smith doing the hard yards upfront. Burden was forced to depart with an injury at the beginning of the second half after making a stunning 50-metre break in the opening 40 minutes.
Toulon this time couldn’t be denied by a Castres outfit featuring Antoine Claassens and Rory Kockott. The former Sharks and Lions player was the star of last year’s final when Toulon were stunned by Kockott’s boot, but there were to be no back-to-back titles for the champions – who qualified for the playoffs in sixth place.
Botha and Habana will now link up with the Springboks to take on the World XV and then Wales and Scotland this month.
In the Aviva Premiership there was to be no such glory for Schalk Brits and the rest of his Saracens side. Toulon’s week might have been incredibly successful but for Saracens it was hellish – losing first in Cardiff in the Heineken Cup Final and then in extra time at Twickenham against Northampton Saints.
A try from Northampton into injury time of extra time – the first Premiership Final to go beyond the 80 minutes – finished off the contest as Brits, Jacques Burger, Alistair Hargreaves, Mouritz Botha, Brad Barritt and Matt Stevens all left tasting defeat for the second week in a row.
The intervention of the TMO was crucial throughout, including for the final try, with Saracens boss Ed Griffiths left outraged afterwards by some of the decisions.
The loss meant that Saracens were unable to give retiring captain Steve Borthwick a winning farewell in his final match.
Brits will look to move on from two final defeats when he links up with South Africa this week, while Barritt heads to New Zealand with England. Despite an excellent season, Saracens have nothing to show for it.
Finally, Zane Kirchner played a prominent role for Leinster as they sent Brian O’Driscoll off into retirement with back-to-back Pro12 titles in Dublin against Glasgow.
Kirchner, also included in Heyneke Meyer’s squad, scored twice for the Irish province in the 34-12 success on home soil, with Leinster eventually killing off a Glasgow side featuring former Lions captain Josh Strauss at No 8 late into the second half.
O’Driscoll was forced to depart within their first ten minutes with an injury in his final ever rugby match, but his team came through to ensure he left with another trophy to his name. Kirchner may be the man to replace the Irish legend in the Leinster 13 jersey next season.