Mick Cleary: Five things to savour in the Champions Cup final

Dupont will be one of the stories of Saturday's Investec Champions Cup final, irrespective what the outcome. It’s as if Jonah Lomu were still with us and about to wreak his particular havoc on a game.

THE KEY-HOLDER: Antoine Dupont will likely play a big part in the final for Toulouse. Pic: Gary Carr, Inpho

History

Stade Toulousain, the preening, potent, punishing aristocrats of the French game. Other Top 14 sides may have prospered in the European Cup, from Brive in the late 90s to three time winners, Toulon, a decade ago but no team seems so in tune with cross-border status as Toulouse, the Real Madrid of the oval ball game. They won the inaugural competition in 1996, first out of the blocks in the professional era for the simple reason that they had operated to a professionalised standard long before the filthy matter of money came into the sport in mid-decade. Stade Toulousain have set the tone as well as the pace, with a fit-for-purpose stadium at Sept Deniers, a faithful, raucous flag-waving, flare-firing following and a presence in the city akin to a football club. The Rouge-et-Noir branding is everywhere and the likes of Emile Ntamack (father of current fly-half, Romain) as well as former Ireland firebrand flanker and local hero, Trevor Brennan, own shops and bars. Match days are an occasion for the entire area, more like an international match than a club event as thousands are entertained pre-match. The game itself is invariably a wonderful post-lunch digestif.