Moment in time: Leicester and the 2002 Heineken Cup final
Truth be told, defending champions Tigers were fortunate to be in Cardiff at all. Their semi-final against Llanelli at the City Ground in Nottingham had not gone to plan and they had owed their passage to an opportunistic try from 19-year-old scrum-half Harry Ellis and an outrageous 60-metre penalty from Tim Stimpson in the dying seconds that ricocheted off both bar and post before sliding over to secure the 13-12 victory that had broken the Welshmen’s hearts.
And the final was to be won after the notorious ‘Hand Of Back’ incident.
Ellis, enjoying his debut season in the first team after coming through the Leicester academy, had been thrust into the spotlight after that victory but had to make do with a place on the bench for the final as the Tigers went in search of victory. The youngster was not complaining, though, and he still looks back on that season with a mixture of pleasure and sheer amazement.
“Coming into the Leicester team that season was an honour and a privilege,” says Ellis, right, now studying sports science at Loughborough after being forced to quit playing through injury in 2010. “They had a great squad that included people like Martin Johnson, Neil Back and Graham Rowntree. It was fantastic to get into a team I’d wanted to play for as a kid.
“It burns me to say it, but Austin Healey was a role model and I wanted his scrum-half shirt. It was a very tough, competitive environment but I remember watching the Heineken final in 2001, when Tigers beat Stade Francais in Paris, and thinking, ‘I want to be part of that’. I got straight into the gym and it really motivated me. Austin gave me that drive.
“To be honest, I was in awe of players like Johnno, Austin and all those other guys. They were Premiership winners and Heineken Cup holders so, as a 19-year-old, to suddenly be in a position where I had to boss them around, I found it very tough to do. It was nerve-wracking and it took me a long time to feel I was worthy of playing in the same team as them.”
Ellis was consigned to the bench in favour of Jamie Hamilton, but the local youngster emerged on 50 minutes of a tight, intense contest to play a pivotal role, and it was his pass that enabled Healey to ghost past a flailing Ronan O’Gara to put the Tigers ahead.
“As we came out I remember emerging into this cauldron of noise, with a red wall of Munster fans at one end,” Ellis says. “All my family and friends were there and the Millennium Stadium is an amazing place to play. I was fortunate to play quite a few games there, not just for England but Leicester, and it was great to enjoy some success there.
“Munster were on their big quest for the Heineken Cup and I just remember the game being very close and intense and me being very nervous. Jamie came off injured after 50 minutes and I thought, ‘God, here we go’. But my first involvement was to put in a good tackle on Rob Henderson as he broke off a scrum and it was nice to make an early impact.
“I was still new to playing in front of such a big crowd, but I managed to help Austin score his try and then came the ‘Hand Of Back’.”
With just minutes remaining and Tigers clinging to a 15-9 lead, Munster set down an attacking scrum a few metres from their try-line. The historic double -double looked like turning to dust. But Back had other ideas as he thrust out an illegal, yet undetected, hand to disrupt Peter Stringer’s put-in, thereby forcing a knock-on.
Ellis recalls: “I remember coming off the pitch, thinking, ‘that took a lot of balls from Neil Back to do’. Under pressure, in those circumstances, to do that showed enormous nous. Neil played on the edge and was ruthless. Munster were furious, but we won the game, the double was in the bag and the knees-up that night was one of my greatest ever memories.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW:
THE CLASS OF 2002
1. Graham Rowntree: Retired from playing in 2007 and joined RFU as national academy coach. Joined senior England coaching set-up in 2009.
2. Dorian West: Won the World Cup in 2003. Retired from playing in 2004 and joined RFU as national academy coach. Became forwards coach at Northampton Saints in 2007.
3. Darren Garforth: Joined Nuneaton as player-coach in 2003. Now runs Garforth Scaffolding Ltd in Coventry.
4. Martin Johnson: Lifted World Cup with England in 2003, before retiring in 2005. Became England manager in 2008 but resigned last December in the wake of World Cup fall-out.
5. Ben Kay: Won 2003 World Cup with England, retired in 2010 and immediately joined ESPN as a lead rugby pundit.
6. Lewis Moody: Forced to retire through injury in March and currently helping out with a number of charity campaigns, including Chron’s and Colitis UK.
7. Neil Back: World Cup winner with England, retired in 2005 and went on to coach at Leeds Carnegie. Left there in 2011 and most recently coached Rugby Lions.
8. Martin Corry: Retired in 2009 and founded ruckingball.com in August that year. Is also now involved in business development for Oracle.
9. Jamie Hamilton: Retired in 2003 and became a performance analyst at Tigers. Moved to New Zealand and currently fulfils a similar role for the Canterbury Crusaders.
10. Austin Healey: Retired in 2006 and was an immediate success on Strictly Come Dancing. Now a TV celebrity and forms a formidable double-act with Ben Kay on ESPN.
11. Freddie Tuilagi: Retired in 2006 after spells at Cardiff and Castres. Now runs his own player management agency, Global Bro Sports.
12. Rod Kafer: Retired in 2003 and became head coach at Saracens. It didn’t work out, though, and he returned to Australia where he is now a pundit with Fox Sports.
13. Ollie Smith: Joined Montpellier in 2008, where he spent two years before moving to Harlequins. Suffered a bad knee injury and was recently appointed head coach of Esher.
14. Geordan Murphy: The indestructible full-back is still going strong at the Tigers.
15. Tim Stimpson: Had spells with Perpignan, Leeds and Nottingham before retiring in 2006. Now works as an introducer at Cornerstone Tax Advisors in Leicester.
Replacements:
Harry Ellis (for Hamilton, 50): Is an ambassador for the Matt Hampson Foundation and hopes to become a school head of rugby on completion of his sports science degree.
Perry Freshwater (for Rowntree, 73): Joined Perpignan in 2003 where he still plays.
Glen Gelderbloom (for Smith, 76): Retired in 2004 and now teaches rugby at Oakham School.
