Toulouse 18 - 12 Stade Francais
Toulouse became the first team to win the Heineken Cup three times as they came from behind in a battle of attrition with their greatest domestic rivals to win in extra-time.
They had been behind from the 10th minute until the 79th, but once they had levelled to take the match into extra-time there was little doubt about the outcome. They launched one of their best assaults of the afternoon from the restart and though Gareth Thomas was cut down a yard from the line, Stade had been caught offside and Frederic Michalak, who had moved to scrum-half when Jean-Baptiste Elissalde was taken off in the 78th minute, calmly landed a straightforward penalty. Stade, whose gameplan had been based on control, confinement and sitting on a lead, were done - a verdict confirmed by Michalak's drop-goal at the beginning of the second half of extra time.
Stade had been within a minute of taking the trophy they have pursued desperately for so long. They had effectively stifled Toulouse's gifted attackers - with only centre Yannick Jauzion looking consistently dangerous - in spite of their having enjoyed the bulk of second half possession, but at the price of doing little in attack themselves.
Jean-Baptiste Elissalde's 49th minute penalty, awarded against Stade prop Rodrigo Roncero after a break by Jauzion - was all Toulouse had to show for the edge they were enjoying until the final two minutes.
In retrospect the key moment had been some determined Toulouse defence as Stade sought a potentially decisive goal in one of their rare attacks five minutes from time. First David Skrela's 30 yard attempt was charged down then Brian Liebenberg opted against a longer-range kick as defenders closed in. Three minutes later Finau Maka surged into the Stade 22 and, although his drive was halted five yards short, Stade were caught offside and Michalak landed a 15 yard kick to level with 65 seconds remaining.
Earlier Toulouse had kept Stade guessing for as long as possible about Michalak's participation, but there was little doubt of his presence in the opening exchanges as he first hoisted an artfully angled cross-kick which Gareth Thomas caught cleanly before being foiled by the Stade defence, then from the resulting line-out fired in a drop-goal attempt which sailed wide to the right.
But it was Stade, whose attempts to feel at home in Edinburgh had gone to the mildly improbable lengths of kitting out a member of their coaching staff in a kilt, who settled earlier. Knowing well the potential costs of allowing their formidable opponents to slip into a rhythm, they disrupted ferociously with the tangled hairdo of flanker Mauro Bergamasco prominent at early breakdowns.
And in full-back Juan Martin Hernandez, they had the key figure of the first quarter. While his defensive efforts included fielding a dangerous Thomas up and under with aplomb, he was even more in evidence going forward, creating the positions that led to Stade's two first-quarter penalties. He first angled a 9th minute kick deep into the Toulouse 22, setting up the pressure under which a Toulouse hand crept into a ruck.
Outside-half David Skrela landed a 30 metre penalty, setting off a crowd reaction which suggested that all 3,200 Stade fans known to be at Murrayfield had equipped themselves with flags. The blue banners were waving again after 14 minutes when Hernandez caught a poor chip from Michalak, strode forward to kick ahead himself and then collared Christian Labit on the ten metre line. Skrela, one of the headgear-doffing school of kickers, obliged with a kick from in line with the posts.
Toulouse cut Stade's lead twice in the second quarter as Jean-Baptiste Elissalde landed kicks in the 24th and 33nd minutes. But each time Skrela hit back in kind, and his fourth successful kick on the stroke of half-time sent Strade in for the break 12-6 ahead.