What became of the only Welsh rugby team to reach the European Cup final

It’s a question that often leads to much scratching of heads during pub quizzes across Wales.

Name the 13 Welshmen to play in Heineken Champions Cup-winning teams.

Tony Rees, Ieuan Evans, Nathan Thomas, Richard Webster, Allan Bateman, Andy Newman, Rob Howley, Gareth Thomas, Gethin Jenkins, Leigh Halfpenny, Nick Tompkins, Liam Williams and Tomas Francis since you asked.

Departing rugby player turned down Wales for his own well-being as he quits game

Still not a full XV of triumphant Welsh players in European rugby's top-tier tournament, then.

How different it could have been if Cardiff had got the job done all the way back in the inaugural season of competitive continental action, when an entire team of Wales-qualified players faced Toulouse in the final. Sadly from a Welsh perspective, the French prevailed 21-18 after extra time, reward for a performance notable for swift passing and speed in the backs and ruthless tackling.

Cardiff could have nicked it, though.

Twenty-six years on, we are still waiting for another Welsh side to reach the final, let alone win the whole shooting match.

With no region bagging a single success on the field in Europe this term, albeit that Covid ruined the campaigns of Cardiff and Scarlets in particular, the chances of one of rugby's most prestigious pieces of silverware finding its way to Wales seem more remote than ever, with ongoing funding issues leaving individual regions starting each campaign seriously disadvantaged.

But let’s return to Cardiff's class of ’96. What became of the team that started that day against Toulouse?

MARK ORDERS takes a look.

Once admitted he felt like crying as Cardiff went through a difficult spell during his playing days. Naming him in a dream team in his