Toulouse win record 5th Champions Cup

LONDON, May 23, (AP): Back row Jerome Kaino said Toulouse was motivated by the club’s past successes as it became the first team to win five Champions Cup titles.

Toulouse edged out La Rochelle in an all-French final in front of 10,000 fans at Twickenham, a red card for Levani Botia seeing its opponents reduced to 14 men in the first half.

RUGBY

Toulouse was still second best up front for the 80 minutes, but Juan Cruz Mallia’s try helped them to a 22-17 victory, despite Tawera Kerr-Barlow’s late effort for La Rochelle.

“I’m absolutely stoked and it didn’t come easy. I’m glad we got over the line,” Kaino said. “The pressure comes from day one when you walk into the club and you’re quite aware of the golden years. It’s a relief and feels great to get that fifth star.”

Meanwhile, former Wallabies coach

Robbie Deans guided the Panasonic Wild Knights to a 31-26 win over perpetual rivals Suntory Sungoliath Sunday in the final of Japan rugby’s Top League. Sungoliath and the Wild

Knights have shared 10 titles since the tournament began in 2003. Deans has now added four Top League titles to his five Super League titles with the Christchurch-based Crusaders.

Japan astronaut Akihito Hoshide counted down the final seconds to the final from the International Space Station with the match providing a climax to a season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. South Africa-born center Dylan Riley scored the opening try of the final for the Wild Knights, intercepting a pass from the Sungoliath’s All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett.

Japan winger Kenki Fukuoka scored a try in his final match before retiring to put the Wild Knights ahead 23-7 at halftime. A try to Tonga-born Japan international prop Asaeli Ai Valu put the Wild Knights further ahead at the start of the second half.

But Barrett’s kicking kept Sungoliath in the hunt for their sixth Top League title and tries to scrumhalf Naoto Saito and fullback Seiya Ozaki cut the deficit to five points before time ran out.

Japan winger Kenki Fukuoka, (right), of Panasonic Wild Knights runs past Suntory Sungoliath’s Beauden Barrett of New Zealand on way to a successful try during the final of Japan’s Top League club competition in Tokyo, on May 23. (AP)

Toulouse players lift the trophy after the final whistle during the Heineken Champions Cup final match between La Rochelle and Toulouse at Twickenham Stadium, London, on May 22. (AP)