Toulouse 31; Leinster 22
Just as Leinster finally got the La Rochelle monkey off their back, another French monster named Toulouse has emerged to keep Leo Cullen’s side in European clubs rugby’s bridesmaid’s chamber.
Up to Saturday these were the two giants of the Heineken Cup/Champions Cup with Toulouse having five starts on the jersey crest to Leinster’s four - a star signifying each triumph in this annual continental test.
Following this extra-time victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the spanking new football ground, the French juggernauts now have six stars to their name while the Irish province have failed to add to their collection despite appearing in the last three finals.
It seems like Leinster can be the best team in the northern hemisphere for all but the back end of May, where they have found La Rochelle twice and now Toulouse too hot to handle in the final event of the season.
So no surprise then when Head Coach Cullen faced the aftermath music and declared that his side were “devastated” by yet another reverse at the final hurdle. They could so easily be the headliners with seven stars had they won the last three. Instead, they are in danger of getting the moniker of serial losers for failing to get past the post when so close to winning.
The fact that they showed great resolve to level the game 15-15 at the end of normal time, forcing two segments of 10-minute half in extra time, counts for little as they failed to get the job done as a more savvy Toulouse always appeared to have their opponents’ number when it came to winning the breakdown and turnovers.
By their own high standards, Leinster had one of those off-days when spilled balls appeared de rigueur, even as a commentator noticed, during their warm up phases before the game began.
Afterwards all Leo Cullen could do was call it accurately and honestly by stating: "We are pretty devastated, you can see the guys out there. We poured a huge amount into this campaign. There's two very good teams going at it so it was probably a game about taking opportunities, that was so important.
"We had plenty of opportunities, couldn’t quite nail them, and Toulouse scrambled well. They pushed the boundaries at times, in terms of defending their own tryline. They dug in well. We are pretty devastated again. Our season is not over, we need to turn our attention to the URC. It’s important we show character as a group.
"Devastating day today, credit to Toulouse, showed some of the champion qualities that they have, particularly Antoine Dupont came up with big moments for his team at different stages.
"We don’t try to live too much with regret, the guys give everything that they have out there. Some opportunities, being more clinical overall. It was an unbelievably tight game, when it goes to extra-time, again they take their opportunity on the edge and a couple of penalties.
"There was nothing between the teams, as you saw, hugely frustrating. It’s another painful experience but it’s about us as a group showing character and turning the page for the rest of the season," he assessed.
What made the defeat even more galling was the stats showed that the losers dominated many facets of the encounter. They passed, offloaded, and gained territory better than their opponents but failed to score a try in the opening 80-minutes and then only got one touchdown in the extra halves… and that after going 10 points behind to a Toulouse converted try and conversion.
Leinster dominated many of the statistics. They were better than Ugo Mola’s side in defenders beaten, offloads, passes, possession and territory but ultimately failed to score more than one try, which came in the first half of extra-time.
Toulouse’s try-scorer was Mathis Lebel and that score gave Leinster a mountain to climb and although sub Josh Van Der Flier got in for a trademark score late on, it wasn’t enough to turn the red sea roll to victory.
While Caelan Doris was sensational for Leinster, truth is the side had no one individual capable of doing what Antoine Dupont did in preventing and making plays - work which rightly earned him the Man of the Match award at the end of the game.
Ross Byrne with four and his replacement through injury Ciarán Frawley kicked the five penalties for Leinster, while Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn and his replacement Thomas Ramos kicked the Toulouse scores as the 80 minutes ended 15-15.
Another big moment in the game was James Lowe’s yellow card for deliberate knock-on in extra-time when Lebel got his score, with Ramos kicking successfully three times in that moiety to accumulate the 31-22 winning margin.
From the off, the men in red looked the hungrier and better prepared for the task at hand with the Irish province having to thank Jamison Gibson-Park for preventing a Dupont inspired try by forcing his toes into touch before he got his pass away.
Ireland were sloppy at the breakdown and when Jamaies Osborne gave away a silly penalty, Leinster were behind to a Kinghorn three-pointer. Osborne was caught on the wrong side of the ruck and Kinghorn duly obliged from the tee to make it 6-0 before Leinster outhalf Ross Byrne kicked his side’s first penalty - but only after the side had been thwarted when going to the corner and failing to make an impression with their previous unstoppable maul from winning line-out possession.
Leinster’s radar was just slightly off centre which explained why Robbie Henshaw and Lowe were unable to link up after both made impressive breaks which normally would have yielded tries.
Behind 9-6 at the interval, Leinster continued to pound the French citadels but failed to break it open and it was only a late penalty from Frawley, who then was awry with a late drop goal to win it, that pushed the game to extra-time.
It was Toulouse who earned their star by stepping up a gear in the final 20 minutes of extra time, leaving Leinster to contemplate what they must find in the next 12 months to end up in the winners’ enclosure.
Leinster: H Keenan; J Larmour, R Henshaw, J Osborne, J Lowe; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Jenkins; R Baird, W Connors, C Doris (capt) Replacements: R Kelleher, C Healy, M Ala'alatoa, J Ryan, J Conan, L McGrath, C Frawley, Jo van der Flier.
