Toulon made European history with a rollercoaster 24-18 triumph over Clermont at Twickenham for their third-straight European title.

Brilliant individual tries from first Nick Abendanon and then Drew Mitchell made this one of the great European finals. But once again it was Toulon's day.

No other club side except for the Crusaders of 1998 to 2000 have ever achieved this much success at this level. One European title already felt like an excellent return on Mourad Boudjellal's level of investment. Now they have three.

Bernard Laporte spoke about Jonny Wilkinson being the inspiration for Toulon but winning this title without him will actually benefit the club in the long-term, whatever the future holds with Bakkies Botha, Ali Williams and their captain Carl Hayman bowing out.

Until someone equals their incredible feat of three straight European titles, they will be remembered as arguably the greatest European side of all time. It's inscribed in the silverware after all.

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