Rugby: Healey hails match-winner Lloyd

Stade Francais 30 Leicester 34

English champions Leicester completed a remarkable golden Treble when they were crowned Heineken Cup winners after an unforgettable final against French champions Stade Francais at Parc des Princes.

The Tigers outscored their opponents 3-0 on tries, but left it late before securing the success they so richly deserved.

Centre Leon Lloyd’s 80th minute touchdown gave Leicester glory, and stunned Stade whose 30 points came from the boot of their Italian Test fly-half Diego Dominguez.

Dominguez landed a tournament-record nine penalties, while his points tally also set a new best for a European final, but Leicester were not to be denied in the face of such an onslaught.

Despite having their captain - England and Lions leader Martin Johnson - sin-binned for punching in the second half, they dug deep into their limitless supplies of courage and resolve.

They trailed 15-9 at half-time, but scored three tries after the break, two from the impressive Lloyd and one by England flanker Neil Back.

Tigers’ scrum-half Austin Healey was a deserved man-of-the-match winner, after threatening the Stade defence through his sniping breaks and attacking invention, but the closing seconds were simply pure theatre as Leicester held on.

They follow Bath and Northampton as previous English winners of this trophy, landing a spectacular hat-trick of European glory, Premiership title success, and Zurich Championship play-off honours.

Match-winner Austin Healey displayed rare modesty immediately after Leicester’s thrilling 34-30 Heineken Cup triumph over Stade Francais in the Parc des Princes.

The extrovert Leicester scrum-half overcame a knee injury that had threatened to rule him out of the match to make a scintillating break late on to set up Leon Lloyd for the match-winning try.

But Healey, thrilled to have helped the Premiership champions pull off an historic Treble in such an intimidating atmosphere, said the award should have gone to two-try flyer Lloyd.

‘‘I don’t think I deserve the man of the match. I would have given it to Leon Lloyd for his performance,’’ he said.

Leicester prop Darren Garforth was thrown on to Healey’s bandaged knee in a second-half tackle and it looked like Healey would be forced to submit to the injury before his scorching late burst.

‘‘I’ve never known a run so painful,’’ he said when asked about the Cup-clinching try. ‘‘I had cramp in both legs. It was sheer pain.

‘‘We never gave up. We were under the cosh a lot, but it’s great to win three trophies and it’s good luck to English clubs.’’