Muddled No 10 picture, poor attack and refusal to take points – strategic errors cost Leinster the ultimate prize

Had the Leinster bus passed him at that very moment, Leo Cullen might have listened to what he had to say. After all, the Leinster coach has tried everything else to get to the province’s Holy Grail, only to end up in purgatory all over again.

In response to back-to-back Champions Cup final defeats to La Rochelle, Leinster put their faith in Jacques Nienaber and committed to his reformation.

They’d lost belief in the Leinster way that had been built by Michael Cheika and finessed by Joe Schmidt, Stuart Lancaster and Johnny Sexton. Ronan O’Gara and La Rochelle had undermined everything they knew to be true.

And so, they welcomed Nienaber with open arms and threw themselves into a process he described as “rewiring”.

He is clearly a brilliant coach who does what he does well. An innovator who challenged the way Leinster thought, popular, charismatic and a double World Cup winner; there was reason to invest heavily in his project.

The elements of the game that you’d associate with his Springbok team went well; their kick-chase was superb, their scrum a weapon and their scramble defence and capacity to batter the breakdown was good.

But what will gall Leinster fans the most about this loss is the price their attack has paid for those defensive advances.

Today's Sports News in 90 Seconds - 27th May

Leinster’s brand is built on an uber-efficient, high-paced and intricate offensive game, supplemented by accurate work at the ruck that gives the half-backs clean, quick ball and doesn’t allow opponents to settle.

In limiting Toulouse to 15 points in 80 minutes, the defence did its job but rarely have Leinster been so wasteful with the ball. It was a shockingly inaccurate display.

​Had Ciarán Frawley’s 79th minute drop-goal attempt stayed the course, then the coaches would have been hailed as men who’d turned a team that’s become synonymous with losing big games into a side with the mental resolve to win tight games against the very best.

And yet, the Skerries native’s kick drifted left and so they entered a new, 20-minute game where they were comprehensively outplayed and outsmarted by the French side who were a man down for the last 11 minutes.

Leinster have cancelled tomorrow’s training session and that may be to give enough time for the review of this final, because it may have to be split into several sittings because there was so much wrong with their performance.

They visited Toulouse’s ’22 a total 17 times across the game and came away with one try. The range of their errors was vast.

Their attack seemed to be functioning on memory, playing patterns in front of a Toulouse defence that encouraged them towards the touchline in the knowledge that there was no pace on the edge. This was no one-off either; all season Leinster’s efficiency in the ’22 has been a worry.

Ross Byrne’s position as their starting No 10 will have to come under review.

With Antoine Dupont and the Toulouse back-row applying incredible pressure to limit the influence of Jamison Gibson-Park, the out-half needed to step up and provide the magic but Byrne’s limitations were on show again here.

With Johnny Sexton retired, they came into the campaign with four senior out-halves and they’ve tried to share the game-time between them. The review of Leinster’s season may focus on the final but perhaps the most important moment came in the wake of their win over Munster back in November when Byrne had gone off early and Frawley had come in and run the show well.

He’d earned the right to have a shot at keeping the jersey, but instead they went with Harry Byrne against La Rochelle. He came on and won that game, started at No 10 against Sale and Stade Francais in January and hasn’t started a game there since.

Even last week, they opted not to give him a run in the position against Ulster; instead starting Harry Byrne and picking Sam Prendergast on the bench.

His first drop-goal attempt on Saturday was the first time a Leinster player has tried one all season. Surely, they could have engineered a dry run or two across the year?

Byrne has always lacked the pace needed to threaten defences at the sharp end of the game and, at 29, he’s not going to get any quicker with his speed of foot or mind. And yet, having picked their most reliable goal-kicker, Leinster repeatedly turned down opportunities to let him build a score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In contrast, Toulouse never turned down a shot at three points.

Their decision to back their attack comes from a desire to score in sevens but when their attack has become a blunt instrument, then perhaps they should have reconsidered their strategy.

What’s worse is that, having decided to go for it, they executed badly. Byrne didn’t get them close enough, Toulouse dealt with their maul brilliantly and then blitzed their breakdowns or waited for the inevitable Leinster error.

In the aftermath, they spoke of fine margins and they have every reason to be annoyed with referee Matthew Carley for a couple of key decisions.

Toulouse are a great team, led by arguably the greatest player of all time. They’ve a big budget, a winning pedigree and there’s no shame in losing to them in extra-time. But all they can worry about is their own strategy and execution and, when they focus in on that, they’ll find they were the architects of their own downfall.

The only way to fittingly respond is to go and win the URC the hard way, going away in the semi-final and final.

By next season, they’ll have added RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett to their ranks and Tyler Bleyendaal will be running their attack. There’s every chance they’ll be back in a final in Cardiff next year for another shot at salvation.

But they can’t rely on that. They know there’s no guarantee they’ll be back and this was another final they could and should have won, but for their own errors. That’s what will hurt them the most.