THE 1995-96 HEINEKEN EUROPEAN CUP

AND so it came to pass that the Heineken European Cup finally became reality on October 31 1995 at a small stadium just outside the Black Sea port of Constanta when the reigning Romanian champions Farul Constanta entertained mighty Toulouse.

Toulouse won 54-10 in front of a crowd generously estimated at 3,000. In the UK the contest warranted a couple of paragraphs top whack in most national papers although it should be noted that both the South Wales Echo and Swansea Evening Post had both put together hefty eight-page European Cup supplements previewing the tournament generally. The Welsh from nd for competitors. Did he ever. on their feet and in wintry snowy Well the off were mad for it and although their playing impact over the decades has been modest – still no Champions Cup finalist – initial Welsh enthusiasm dragged others along. With the professional game barely two months old, something was stirring.

The rouge et noire were the obvious team to open proceedings, few clubs had done more to make European rugby happen, but the decision to start the competition pretty much as far away from the European rugby mainstream as possible was interesting.

The original tournament, despite its rather ad hoc and slightly shambolic birth, felt pioneering and inclusive, to grow the club game in areas that had been struggling although alas that good intention was a few years too late for Romania. Had the competition existed in the 1980s then either Farul or Steaua Bucharest would have been strong contenders. By 1995 however Romanian rugby was in free fall along with the economy of a newly liberated nation.

There has been a little confusion over the years as to the identity of the first scorer in the competition's history but recently discovered Romanian State TV footage confirms it was No.8 Jean Luc Cester who followed up Christophe Deylaud's 40 metre penalty shot. On a breezy day the kick hit the post and Cester was on hand to scoop the ball up and plunge over. Toulouse scored eight tries in total with Deylaud adding seven conversions.

The 12-team competition generally started to take off in November with the live TV transmission of another midweek fixture – a rare thing back in 1990s – of a thrilling 1414 draw in Bordeaux between Beagles Bordeaux and Cardiff whetting the appetite and making people sit up. Munster also set out on their continuing European odyssey that month with a hard fought 17-13 win over Swansea but a 19-12 defeat at Castres saw them miss out on a semi-final spot.

The four semi-finalists that season had a familiar look. Toulouse were on a mission, Cardiff were strong, Leinster were strong on paper but essentially a scratch team made up of players from a variety of clubs – they renamed themselves Leinster Lions for the tournament – while Swansea were a big club in Wales at the time.

The two semis were played on the same day – Saturday December 30 – eight days before the scheduled final and although neither was a classic their novelty value ensured plenty of coverage. A near capacity 10,000 crowd at Stade des Sept Deniers watched Toulouse beat Swansea 30-3 while in Dublin a crowd of just over 7,000 rattled around in the old Lansdowne Road where Cardiff were the visitors. It was a decent game though with Cardiff winning 23-14 and suddenly after years of talk and dipping toes and false starts we had a European Cup Final on our hands.

The interest was growing but not universal. At the Telegraph I found myself covering the Sunday final at Cardiff Arms park as rugby correspondent John Mason was still a little sceptical about the competition. Or perhaps he just fancied a rare day off after an especially hectic 1995.

As a game it wasn't necessarily epic, but it was dramatic and probably the making of the tournament. Just over 20,000 fans attended on the day, it was live on the TV, and again it needs to be stressed what a novelty that was – and there was a scattering of stardust to elevate proceedings. This is the match that effectively marked the much-heralded return of Jonathan Davies to Welsh rugby union after eight years playing rugby league and this was the first time we got a glimpse of a youthful Thomas Castaignede who had been spoken off as the next big thing in France.

Toulouse set off at a good old lick with tries from Castaignede and the veteran Jerome Cazalbou – who had played in the old Masters Cups – but the kicking of Adrian Davies saw Cardiff hit back and eventually force extra time with the contest being decided with a penalty by Christophe Deylaud. Before the match, representatives 16 of Europe's tops clubs had met to form themselves into an association – the forerunner of ECPR. The competition had arrived and everybody wanted some of the action … and some of the profits.

CARDIFF 18 TOULOUSE 21 (AET)

Cardiff: M Rayer; S Ford, (N Walker 98), M Hall, M Ring (J Davies 40), S Hill; A Davies, A Moore; A Lewis, J Humphreys, L Mustoe, J Wakeford, D Jones, E Lewis, O Williams, H Taylor (c),

Pen goals: A Davies (6)

Toulouse: S Ougier; E N'tamack (c), T Castaignede (P Carbonneau 93), D Berty (U Mola 70); C Deylaud, J Cazalbou; C Califano, P Soula, C Portolan, H Miorin, F Belot, D Lacroix (R Castel 68), H Manent, S Dispagne

Tries: Castaignede, Cazalbou

Con: Deylaud.

Pens: Deyalud (2)

Dropped goal: Castaignede 

Referee: D McHugh (Ireland)

HEINEKIEN EUROPEAN CUP 1995-96

Pool 1: Farul Constanta 10 Toulouse 54; Benetton Treviso 86 Farul Constanta 8; Toulouse 18 Benetton Treviso 9

Pool 2: Begles-Bordeaux 14 Cardiff 14; Cardiff 46 Ulster 6; Ulster 16 Begles-Bordeaux 29

Pool 3: Milan 21 Leinster 24; Pontypridd 31 Milan 12; Leinster 23 Pontypridd 22

Pool 4: Munster 17 Swansea 13; Castres 19 Munster 12; Swansea 22 Castres 10

Semi-finals: Toulouse 30 Swansea 3. Leinster Lions 14 Cardiff 23.

Final: Toulouse 21 Cardiff 18 (aet)