Hero Howley hits turbo to land European glory

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby‘s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

It’s May 23, 2004 in the 79th minute of the Heineken Cup Final between Wasps and Toulouse at Twickenham and with the score 20-20 scrum-half Rob Howley kicked the ball, speculatively, down the left hand touchline in the hope of putting the French side under pressure at one final lineout.

The ball bounced tantalisingly into the corner where Toulouse’s young French international full-back Clement Poitrenaud was determined to try and avoid running the ball into touch, thus giving Wasps the lineout. He waited, waited and then waited some more trying to usher the ball out and then at the last moment, as the ball went into the in-goal area, it seemed safe to touch it down.

Too late. The speedy Howley had been chasing his own kick like an Olympic sprinter and nipped in to score the most dramatic of winning tries.

What’s the story behind the picture?

The conclusion of an epic European campaign by Wasps whose skipper Lawrence Dallaglio had won a World Cup just months earlier. Hardly pausing for breath he threw himself back into the fray with a vengeance with Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards working their magic behind the scenes.

Wasps had demonstrated their steel from the off in their Pool with a memorable 34-6 win away against Perpignan early in February. It was possibly the dirtiest game in Heineken Cup history although strangely there were no red cards – just an extraordinary 15 citings on the Monday.

There was plenty going on, all the time. Wasps, who had travelled down to the Catalan stronghold two days earlier than usual to train and soak up the atmosphere, met fire with fire and recorded what, all things taken into account, many of their supporters still rate as their finest victory in Europe.

It came at a cost although the true extent was not immediately obvious. Howley badly injured his wrist ligaments and tendons in the game and that injury increasingly troubled him for the rest of the season. He fought manfully to cope. Could he bite the bullet and keep going for a few more weeks and be part of Wasps’ European fairytale?

He could and that odyssey included an utterly memorable win over Munster at Lansdowne Park, another contender for Wasps’ best ever performance in Europe. It was a mighty win but Toulouse lay in wait and probably still started the final as slight favourites.

What happened next?

In terms of the game, a classic encounter ensued with Toulouse at times threatening to cut loose but determined defence – with a Joe Worsley inspired back row to the fore – bought Wasps time and kept them in the game. Stuart Abbott and Mark van Gisbergen scored tries for Wasps, Yann Delaigue crossed the line for Toulouse, who also looked to the goal kicking of Delaigue and Jean Baptiste Ellisalde. With barely a minute left it was 20-20 when Toulouse kicked a drop-out 22 long and Howley fielded and kicked for the corner and the real drama began.

And in terms of the two individuals, this was Howley’s last hurrah, his last act in anger on a rugby pitch. The wrist was too bad, he would have to retire. A notable playing career was drawing to a close although there were coaching glories ahead.

As for Poitrenaud, for a period he suffered a fair bit of abuse and lampooning but he was much too much of a Toulouse legend for that to prevail. He retired in 2017 after an extraordinary 337 first team appearances for Toulouse and three Heineken Cup final winner’s medals. He bounced back pretty well.

Why is the picture iconic?

This is a highly dramatic, slightly grainy, news image of a key sporting moment, both in the game and in the history of the Heineken Cup. For some reason there are very few images of the incident – perhaps like Poitrenaud everybody thought the ball was going into touch – but happily David Ashdown on the other side of the pitch was on the case and swung round and captured the moment from long distance.

There is, as yet no reaction and excitement from the crowd, they weren’t expecting a try either but there is just the start of a big smile on Howley’s face as he realises what has happened. Conversely you can already sense the pain and bewilderment of Poitrenaud.

Footnote. I’ve watched the footage of this try at least 30 times over the years and every single time, on the second to last bounce before Poitrenaud goes to touch the ball down in goal and Howley pounces, the pointed end of the ball appears to just graze the touchline. It’s marginal, fleeting, a fraction of an inch but to these eyes the much maligned Poitrenaud actually got it right. And that’s certainly how the French media reported it. If this play was placed in front of the TMO today I’m not sure it would stand. It would probably depend on the original on-field decision. Small margins but such is life.