Wales international Tomas Francis cut a relieved figure as Exeter won a pulsating Champions Cup final against Exeter .
The Gallagher Premiership side, in their first European final, overcame the French outfit 31-27 at Ashton Gate - with prop Francis spending the final 10 minutes in the sin-bin after being yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on by Nigel Owens.
Despite his late digression, the victory saw Francis become just the 13th Welshman to win the European Cup.
The match itself was a clash of styles and cultures - with Exeter the hard-nosed masters of efficiency and Racing the master of Gaelic flair.
As such, the match often played out in unpredictable fashion - being everything you'd want in a match as a neutral.
Exeter led late on after tries from Luke Cowan-Dickie, Sam Simmonds, Harry Williams, Henry Slade putting the Premiership ahead by a point heading into the final ten minutes.
Racing had Juan Imhoff and Camille Chat, as well as a brace from Simon Zebo, to thank for their tries - but they couldn't get ahead in Francis' absence.
Francis follow in the footsteps of Tony Rees, Ieuan Evans, Richard Webster, Nathan Thomas, Allan Bateman, Andy Newman , Rob Howley, Gareth Thomas, Gethin Jenkins, Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams and Nick Tompkins.
