Leinster 41; Toulouse 22
Are Leinster the smartest team playing rugby at the moment? After watching Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup semi-final trouncing of five time champs Toulouse at the Aviva Stadium in which they scored 28 points during two separate sin-binnings against the French side, the answer would have to be an undoubted yes.
Home head coach Leo Cullen zoned in on his side's clinical game and how they took advantage of having the extra man on both occasions to leave the French kingpins desolate after their 19-point drubbing.
They now have the chance to eradicate the painful memory of losing in the last minute in Marseille to Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle when the two sides meet in the final in Dublin later this month.
It is testament to Cullen's side that the upcoming game against the west French side will be their fourth decider over the last six seasons.Toulouse came out with all guns blazing and after Ross Byrne ( who had a perfect seven out of seven shots at goal) had slotted over an easy penalty they saw first blood with a converted try.
On the quarter hour, visiting fullback Thomas Ramos was sent to the cooler for 10 minutes following a deliberate knock-on and by the time he came back, Leinster had crossed for three tries.
Then, when Rodrigue Neti saw yellow for using his head on Josh van der Flier, they pounced again to score a brace of tries - meaning 28 of the 41 accrued had come when they had the numerical ascendancy.
Cullen could hardly contain himself with the performances of his squad and immediately set his mind on gaining revenge on O’Gara.
"There was plenty of good stuff in the game. When Ramos goes to the bin we get a couple of tries during that period, and I thought the guys were pretty clinical at important stages.”
After doubts over the ability of his forwards to match the heavy packs of Toulouse and La Rochelle and Saracens in recent seasons, he was also happy to see his front men stand up and be counted.
"The tries come in different ways, exploiting the short side and being able to see where the space is. Forwards going to work and delivering on a couple of lineout drives from the maul. Overall it's pleasing because there's a bit of variety in our game, and that's a thing we're trying to develop all the time.
"We're delighted to be through, but it's a semi-final, and that's about eking through by even a point, and delivering a better performance in the final," he declared.
All the tries came from his forwards with No 8 Jack Conan bagging a brace to underline a remarkable return to top form which saw him selected for the Lions test team last year.
Flanker John Van der Flyer also got over the whitewash for a trademark try with Ross Jenkins and the dynamic hooker Dan Sheahan completing the try scoring for the dominant home side.
Leinster face La Rochelle in the final on Saturday, May 20 - a day which promises to be colorful in Dublin with a large influx of French followers expected for the season's club showpiece on the European front.
Said Cullen: "It's great to be in a final now, and hopefully it's going to be a special day. Everyone has worked their butts off to get to this point, both players and backroom team management, all the office staff, so it's great. There was a lot of hype after the semi-final against Toulouse last year and we didn't deliver our best game in the final. That's what we have to try to focus on," he stressed.
