Like father like son, France fly-half Romain Ntamack matched his dad Emile by steering Toulouse to Heineken Champions Cup glory in an absorbing 22-17 win against La Rochelle.
Emile was part of the Toulouse team that won their first European crown in 1996 and today saw his son lead the French giants to a record-breaking fifth at Twickenham.
Ntamack Jr kicked five penalties in the encounter, helped to set up Toulouse’s only try of the game and dovetailed beautifully with fellow France international Antoine Dupont, who was named European Player of the Year.
La Rochelle will rue a first-half red card for Levani Botia, who was sent off for a dangerous tackle after just 30 minutes.
They battled gallantly thereafter but Ntamack’s floated pass helped to set up Juan Cruz Mallia for the decisive try.
Toulouse trailed 12-9 at half-time at Twickenham, with defence on top in a tight opening 40 thanks to Ntamack and Ihaia West’s accuracy off the tee.
But the Top 14 heavyweights were heavy favourites by the interval after Botia was sent packing by referee Luke Pearce for charging in and making contact with the head of former France full-back Maxime Medard.
Pearce initially awarded a yellow card but on further view changed his decision to red.
Toulouse took a while to warm to the occasion but Ntamack provided the spark on the hour mark with a fine pass that missed out two to find Thomas Ramos on the wing.
Ramos passed back inside to Mallia, who sprinted for the line to put Toulouse ahead before Ntamack added his fifth penalty of the day to help seal an historic win.
