Brive produced what was widely acclaimed as one of the finest club performances ever seen in a match in the northern hemisphere as they swept Leicester Tigers aside in a pulsating final that made sure the Heineken Cup stayed in France.
 
They followed up Toulouse's success in the inaugural final at the same ground by dashing Leicester hopes of an English club winning the European crown at the first time of asking following the belated entry of teams from England and Scotland.
 
Dean Richards' Leicester Tigers did take the lead in the 54th minute when John Liley kicked his third penalty goal, but they were already under enormous pressure and Brive, astutely directed by captain Alain Penaud, stormed to victory with a scintillating display.
 
The pre-match build-up, including the release of coloured balloons as the teams took the pitch while the rival bands hammered out their support from the stands, set a carnival atmosphere for the contest.
 
But it was Brive who were up and running first, centre Christophe Lamaison kicking a penalty goal, his only success from five such attempts, after just four minutes and full back Sebastien Viars sprinting down the left hand touchline for the first of their four tries a mere two minutes later.
 
Liley's penalty goals, two in the first half, were all the Tigers could muster before Brive began turning pressure into points, right wing Gerald
Fabre forcing his way over wide out.
 
Fellow wing Sebastien Carrat wrapped it up in style with the final two tries, taking the player who has run the 100 metres in 10.35 seconds to a haul of 10 tries, with Lamaison adding a drop goal and conversion.
 
The £20,000 silver trophy was presented to Penaud by Vernon Pugh QC, chairman of the International Rugby Football Board, with both teams thanking their supporters with laps of honour.