Bloodgate, the ‘Hand of Back’ and a drop goal off ‘someone’s arse’ are among the tournament’s delightful eccentricities
O
n the eve of a new Champions Cup season it is worth remembering when and where it all began. The answer is 30 years ago on the shores of the Black Sea where Farul Constanta of Romania hosted France’s mighty Toulouse in the opening pool game of the old Heineken Cup on 31 October 1995.
Let’s just say they were different times. The match was played on a Tuesday and, while the crowd was recorded as 3,000, eyewitnesses were focused on the large number of security personnel with barking Alsatian dogs straining at the leash. Toulouse, boasting an array of internationals including Émile Ntamack and Thomas Castaignède, duly registered eight tries and won 54-10.
Only one British media representative – the late, great Terry Godwin – was in attendance while the Welsh referee, Robert Davies, recalled passing numerous donkey-drawn carts on the five-hour minibus journey back to Bucharest. “Every now and then the curtain would pull back on a cart and a child would shine a torch our way,” Davies subsequently told the Western Mail.
