Leinster 41 Toulouse 22
Whatever chance a team has against the blue machine that is Leinster with 15 men, they’ve little chance with 14.
So when Rodrigue Neti was sinbinned for headbutting Josh van der Flier in the 57th minute, and was decidedly fortunate not to receive a red card, as sure as night follows day Leinster went to the corner and Van der Flier fittingly scored off the ensuing catch-and-drive.
It’s rare that you see Ross Byrne and Caelan Doris as animated as they were in their immediate reaction to the score, passionately exhorting the crowd – not that they needed any encouragement. That made it 34-17 nearing the hour and everyone appreciated the importance of that score.
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A second followed, via Jason Jenkins, before Neti’s sinbinning had elapsed to effectively seal the deal.
The blue die had been cast when Leinster also ruthlessly exploited Thomas Ramos’s 16th-minute yellow card for a one-handed knockdown to prevent Jamison Gibson-Park releasing Jimmy O’Brien, with Jack Conan scoring twice in the fullback’s absence.
While Ugo Mola bemoaned those two costly moments of ill-discipline in pointing out that his side outscored Leinster by 22-16 for the hour when the sides were numerically at full-strength, it doesn’t necessarily follow that 14 unanswered points are the consequence of a yellow card.
After all, as Leo Cullen pointed out afterwards, Leinster produced their best 10 minutes of the quarter-final win over Leicester following Doris’ sinbinning, and thereafter never looked back.
Leinster’s clinical finishing maximised their numerical advantage, but yellow cards or not, Leinster would have won this elite meeting of European royalty.
Their lineout, scrums and, for the most part, breakdown work were the foundation stones. True, the concession of a lineout maul try in the game’s last play patently irked James Ryan no end, and that’s not for the first time in this campaign.
With the final in mind, the captain also spoke of the need for Leinster to improve their defence. Toulouse also brought plenty of power, offloading (there were 28 to Leinster’s four) and footwork from their gamebreakers, Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Pita Ahki and Ramos.
That, even more than their power carries, contributed toward the 36 tackles which Leinster missed, yet there was still a huge intensity to Leinster’s work in contact and, as one suspected might be the case, produced the quicker ball and more sustained waves off attack, particularly in the red zone.
Ramos’s sinbinning was also the product of Gibson-Park’s regular probing of the blindside. The scrumhalf’s decision-making at a high tempo, and his excellent box-kicking, was again at the heartbeat of this performance from the first minute for an hour.
He was a deserving Man of the Match, although on any other day it would have been Conan, for his two tries, his 11 carries, 65 metres and 17 tackles, with none missed.
Revitalised after recovering from a debilitating and mystery ailment which transpired to be a cyst on his pituitary gland, Conan is back to his Lions’ best.
Which is why Doris has to be accommodated and do more donkey work at blindside (witness his clear-out for the Jenkins try) even if this means some of his ball-carrying is sacrificed. But one also suspected that Leinster would have the better back-row and with Thibaud Flament and Francois Crow eclipsed, so it proved.
Conan confessed he was “blowing pretty hard”, although added: “But I think everyone was. It was a tough old game in that first 40 minutes. I’m feeling better and I’m mentally dialled in a bit more than I was previously and I feel like it’s coming to fruition for me out on the pitch.
“They are the first tries I’ve scored for Leinster in over a year,” he admitted, dating back to his brace against Montpellier in January last year.
“So, it was nice to get over the whitewash today and be part of an incredible team performance, not just myself, but all the lads I thought they were really on the money today and we know we needed to be to beat such a quality side in Toulouse who are one of the best clubs in Europe and the world.”
While it’s remarkable to think that Conan and all his Leinster and Irish team-mates on show here have not lost a match this season, it’s also worth noting that it was a rare defeat for the Toulouse/French contingent.
In 22 starts for club and country, Dupont has only been on the losing side twice, against Ireland last February and here again last Saturday.
That could be a good augury for the World Cup.
“Absolutely,” agreed Conan. “We’ll probably face each other at some stage and if it’s half the spectacle when we played each other in February – it was one of the best games I’ve had the privilege of being involved in and I know a lot of people from the outside looking in loved it as well.
“The ball in play was crazy high that day, 46 minutes – way above normal and that’s testament to the style of rugby both teams want to play. We knew back in February that we’d have to be at our best and again today to beat Toulouse.”
The manner in which the in-form and confident Ross Byrne assuredly directed this performance should also have positive benefits for Ireland, all the more so if he and Leinster can repeat the feat in what will be a huge test against La Rochelle.
Attributing his second try to van der Flier’s support line inside, Conan admitted he should have narrowed the conversion angle, not that it mattered the way Byrne was kicking.
Scoring sequence: 5 mins Byrne pen 3-0; 9 mins Ahki try, Ramos con 3-7; 13 mins Byrne pen 6-7; 17 mins Conan try, Byrne con 13-7; 21 mins Conan ty, Byrne con 20-7; 27 mins Sheehan try, Byrne con 27-7; 35 mins Meafou try, Ramos con 27-14; (half-time 27-14); 58 mins van der Flier try, Byrne con 34-17; 65 mins Jenkins try, Byrne con 41-17; 81 mins Willis try 41-22.
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Charlie Ngatai, Jimmy O’Brien; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Ross Molony, James Ryan (capt), Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan. Replacements: Ciarán Frawley for Ngatai (54 mins), Jason Jenkins for Molony (54 mins), Michael Ala’alatoa for Furlong (59 mins), Luke McGrath for Jamison-Park (61 mins), Ryan Baird for Conan (65 mins), John McKee for Sheehan, Cian Healy for Porter (both 68 mins), Harry Byrne for R Byrne (71 mins).
STADE TOULOUSAIN: Thomas Ramos; Juan Cruz Mallía, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Pita Ahki, Matthis Lebel; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (capt); Cyril Baille, Peato Mauvaka, Dorian Aldegheri, Richie Arnold, Emmanuel Meafou, Jack Willis, Thibaud Flament, Francois Cros. Replacements: Paul Graou for Barassi (15 mins), Julien Marchand for Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti for Baille, Alexandre Roumat for Arnold (all 51 mins), David Ainu’u for Aldegheri (59 mins), Rynhardt Elstadt for Meafou, Alban Placines for Cros (both 65 mins),Baille for Flament (67 mins), Arthur Retiere for Mallia (69 mins). Sinbinned: Ramos (16-26 mins), Neti (57-67 mins).
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
