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The 'devastated' Leinster reaction to latest Champions Cup final loss
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen admitted his players would have to show character to overcome the crushing disappointment of losing a third consecutive Investec Champions Cup final.
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Toulouse scaled the summit of European rugby for an unprecedented sixth time after finishing strongly in a 31-22 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that needed extra time to separate the rivals.
Antoine Dupont was outstanding for the French champions, who had the boot of Thomas Ramos to thank for pushing them clear after the first 80 minutes finished 15-15.
With the United Rugby Championship still in play, Leinster must now recover quickly from another narrow defeat in the final having lost to La Rochelle in 2022 and 2023.
“Everyone is devastated. We’ve been on the losing side on a few occasions now,” Cullen said. “We need to see what we’re all made of now, as hard as that will be. We’ll process it and move on to the next challenge against Connacht at the RDS on Friday night. They won’t make life easy for us.
“The lads have been immense in the character they have shown and they probably need to show a bit of character now because you get the sense of what’s coming when you lose another final. We have to be able to deal with that ourselves.
“There’s not a lack of belief that we can do this, it’s just making sure that we stick at it because we will get across the line.”
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Leinster replacement Ciaran Frawley kicked the penalty that ensured extra time, but he was also narrowly wide with a late drop-goal attempt that would have snatched victory.
“It comes down to the finest thing. There was a drop goal at the end and if that goes a metre to the right then we’re having a very different conversation here. That’s the nature of sport at the top end,” Cullen said.
“I’m not sure the game got away from us. It was a very tight contest. We had some really positive passages of play. Toulouse scrambled well and came up with big moments defensively and that was the difference.
“The lads were immense out there and kept firing shots throughout but didn’t get the rewards for lots of difference reasons. We poured a lot into it. We just felt we’re so close to breaking them and most people in the stadium would have that sense.”
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That was a terrible performance by the officials, that game took forever to finish.
You still might put a few of Leinsters brain fades down to exhaustion during overtime however, what was Keenan thinking taking the ball out in touch and then soon after letting Dupont find touch. Possibly put Larmour’s explosion in that category giving away the try?
Also making a farce of the substation laws not being able to get someone on immediately, especially with the fact it couldn’t have been with who he replaced.
Wait this article is not really about the game? Oh well, fitting of a final even if you really have no idea who the best team was from it. Can sure say Leinster are kings in Europe though, most consistent is what really matters. They’ll really have to find something once they loss JGP Low and Henshaw though, teams for of amazing players but those three are instrumental to the team (well maybe not if JN changes their style even more).
Their arrogance is showing every time. They feel entitled to win, rugby trophies are the yardstick. The same like their national team, D,bags
I’m a bit confused now. Didn’t that “world renowned” rugby pundit Brian O Driscoll recently refer to Leinster as the Champions Cup champions? What black magic is this!?
Stormers, Bulls and Sharks keep losing top players to the North and we have many guys playing in Japan.
SA could put 3xBok sides that would be very strong.
Leinster went for the drop instead of forcing a penalty while trying to score.
Apart from his overinflated rush defense, Nienaber brought very little to the Leinster table.