La Rochelle retained their Champions Cup crown with a dramatic comeback victory over Leinster in Dublin that saw three cards dished out in the final 10 minutes.
Ronan O'Gara's side had trailed by 17 points after just 12 minutes, but they gradually worked their way back into the match to produce the biggest comeback in a Champions Cup final.
Forging ahead to lead by a single point in the dying minutes, a last-gasp red card for Leinster's Michael Ala’alatoa for a dangerous clearout on Georges-Henri Colombe ended the Irish side's hopes of victory and left the La Rochelle player stretchered off.
That added a slightly subdued ending to a match that was, immediately afterwards, dubbed the "greatest final this competition has ever seen" by ITV commentator Miles Harrison.
The Irish province had opened up a 17-0 lead after in 12 minutes, with hooker Dan Sheehan getting over either side of Jimmy O'Brien's score.
La Rochelle staged a stunning fightback, with centre pairing Jonathan Danty and UJ Seuteni getting over for first-half scores to reduce the deficit.
They continued to pile on the pressure in the second-half, keeping within touching distance before getting their reward with Colombe's late try eight minutes from time.
Leinster were reduced to 14 men immediately after the score, with Ronan Kelleher sent to the sin-bin after a number of repeated red-zone infringements.
However, the sides were almost immediately evened up as Danty was yellow-carded for a high tackle. That put the Irish side in the driving seat for one last push at a win, only for Ala'alatoa's red card to end any hope of a record-tying fifth title.
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