Bernard Laporte says Toulon players are 'legends'

Toulon coach Bernard Laporte said Saturday's third straight Champions Cup triumph elevates his players to rugby legends.

Laporte’s men defeated French rivals Clermont 24-18 in a thrilling final at Twickenham to become the first team to win the competition three times in a row.

Drew Mitchell's breathtaking try 11 minutes from time, that saw the Australia wing go past six Clermont defenders, sealed the outcome of see-saw contest in dramatic fashion.

"What they have accomplished, it's something historic," Laporte said. "They have become legends, the glory is for them

"You know, we (the coaches) don't do nothing, we watch, we applaud when we score and we cry when they (the opposition) score," added Laporte.

For Clermont, yet to win Europe's premier club rugby tournament and beaten 10 times in the final of France's Top 14, this was another agonising loss in a showpiece match.

Captain Carl Hayman says other teams around the world will have their work cut out to emulate the feat and said Saturday’s win was the greatest of their three titles.

"I think being the third one, it's even greater," he said. "It's such a difficult competition, especially now with the pools being reduced, it's a lot harder.

"So it's a third time, and that will be extremely rare (for any other club to match).

"Teams now have bigger budgets; teams are getting more competitive and more balanced throughout the competition."