Champions Cup final preview: No room for error as Leinster put reputations on the line again
Leinster's Leo Cullen and Caelan Doris speaking ahead of Champions Cup final
This is an era-defining match for Leinster. The build-up has been dominated by talk of dynasties, yet the current crop have fallen at the final hurdle in successive seasons and have not been able to back up their dominance from September to April with success in May.
The walls of their UCD base are adorned with images of trophy lifts and celebrations, but there’s been nothing to add in recent years despite their consistency across the campaigns.
They had already appointed Jacques Nienaber by the time La Rochelle repeated their trick of coming back from the dead in a final last year, but the recruitment of the Springbok supremo almost looks like the perfect response to that heart-breaking loss.
The success of everything they’ve done since can be boiled down into the 80-plus minutes this afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where they’ll take on a Toulouse team who have sailed into the final on a wave of tries.
They are the competition’s leading lights, led by the world’s best player and looking for a sixth title.
And yet, Leinster have no psychological baggage about the men in red and black who they’ve comfortably beaten in the semi-finals of the last two seasons.
The final hurdle may be the hardest to clear, but they’ve been relaxed in the build-up and appear to be embracing the challenge of getting over the line.
To do it, they’ll need an 80-minute performance and the bench Leo Cullen has picked suggests that they’re keen to avoid the late fades that have happened in big games.
For Toulouse, there’s been a clear focus on discipline.
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Last season, Leinster scored 21 points while they had men in the sin-bin and they’ve conceded fewer penalties this season than today’s opponents.
Ugo Mola revealed that they’ve been working with top official Mathieu Raynal to try and stay on the right side of referees, while they’ve also put a focus on remaining consistent within games.
They’re a better team than they were a year ago, with young guns Alexandre Roumat and Paul Costes adding to an already impressive arsenal.
The decision to select Blair Kinghorn ahead of Thomas Ramos signals a clear intent to play around the Nienaber’s blitz defence and you can expect to see cross-kicks and dabs in behind from the half-backs who will be keen to turn the blue wave.
Leinster will go after the breakdown and hope to scrag Antoine Dupont and slow down the supply, but Toulouse have big bodies that they’ll pile in on Leinster ball in a plan to limit what Jamison Gibson-Park can do around the breakdown.
With James Ryan on the bench, it’s a big day for Ryan Baird who will call the lineouts as he did with some success against La Rochelle.
“We’re in a good spot,” Ryan said of the set-piece. “A lot of the French teams kind of pose different challenges in the lineout. Typically, they mightn’t be as aggressive in the air but they can be quite destructive on the ground with some of their maul ‘D’ strategies.
“That’s part of being a lineout caller, just having an understanding of the opposition and how they’re going to defend in the air or on the ground.
“Bairdo did a great job against La Rochelle and I think he’ll do a great job tomorrow as well.”
Cullen doesn’t believe much has changed with Toulouse.
“Their game is based around forward power. People think in terms of the ball-playing skills they have, the offloading ability they have,” he said. “They’ve a very strong identity around keeping the ball alive but a lot of it is based on forwards that are big and powerful as well. We need to make sure we’re clued into that forward battle.
“We’ve got some good forwards, our starting forwards and we’ve some excellent forwards coming off the bench as well, so a good mix in terms of how we plan to counteract that.”
The game will be won and lost in those trenches, the capacity of each team to limit what the star No 9 in the opposition ranks can do will be a major battle ground.
Kinghorn’s goal-kicking will be a worry for Toulouse fans and Leinster need Ross Byrne to have the game of his life.
For Jamie Osborne, there’s no baggage and the Naas native’s capacity to free his hands could be a big factor, but Costes’ speed may unsettled the pair of inside centres in the Leinster midfield.
Leinster’s attack has been patchy, but you suspect they’ll have something up their sleeves here. They need to execute when the chances come their way to change the story this time. Anything less and more heartbreak is on the cards.
Verdict: Leinster 24 Toulouse 31
