Leo Cullen’s Leinster panel could do with a URC title more than ever now after third successive Champions Cup final loss
Leo Cullen’s panel could do with a URC title more than ever now after another bruising Champions Cup experienceAndrew Porter and Josh van der Flier after the defeat to Toulouse at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London. Photograph: James Crombie/InphoYet these Leinster players wouldn’t be human if they didn’t have deeper mental scars, and all the more so following another taut, tight decider.
Superbly though Leinster and Ireland have played in these games, also add the last-ditch loss in Twickenham, and that’s five, season-defining games – all epics, all one-score games, all in the balance until the 80th minute and all lost. That’s a career’s worth of heartache in a relatively short period of time.
Dejected Leinster players look dejected following defeat to Toulouse in the Champions Cup final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire Admittedly, this was the fifth Champions Cup final without a try after 80 minutes. Leinster had the mother of all comebacks in 2011 and ran amok a year later in Twickenham with five tries against Ulster. But as when winning in 2018, this was the third time they haven’t scored a try in 80 minutes of a final.
Since reaching the last of three successive semi-finals in 2019, Munster have gone in the pool stages, reached one quarter-final and made two Round of 16 exits. This season was Ulster’s sixth pool exit along with a Round of 16 exit and two quarter-finals since 2014. Two Round of 16 and five pool exits have been the summit of Connacht’s achievements.
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