Five times national champions, Racing Club de France, have an enigmatic identity which is currently being revived with their long awaited return to the top flight of French rugby. Millions have been spent on their senior team, with head coach Pierre Berbizier recently linked with moves for World Cup winners Johnny Wilkinson and Francois Steyn.

The clubs junior team showed similar intent in the way it managed to control the pace of the game and restrict the Accies to an Alex Webber try in the first half. But the aggression of the Parisiens overflowed in the second half, resulting in a red card for one of their forwards which allowed the Accies to open up the game for Webber to cross for a second try.

The other half of the draw had seen the expected progression of the powerful Marseille team, who at the semi final stage, were thought too strong for the local Bretagne regional team. But the support of the large partisan crowd drove the Bretons to cause the upset of the tournament and a 3 point victory. Thus the final would be contested by two Celtic teams who had defeated big city French clubs.

With the Bretagne region having long ago adopted the tune of ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’, both anthems before the final had a very familiar tune, along with their respective Celtic lyrics.

Bretagne had given the Accies their toughest match in the group stages, and with further players arriving for the final day and their defeat of Marseille in the semi final, the Welsh students were wary of the challenge. But despite being well contested, the Accies backline yet again showed its class, with tries coming from Owen Williams, Dan Crimmins, Harley Thompson and Bowdy Davies. Captain Owen Sheppeard proudly raising the Trophee Ravy.