Toulouse figured out the key to stopping this Blue machine

In the final seconds just before kick off in the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, referee Matthew Carley took a deep inhalation of breath. It captured the enormity and nervousness of the occasion and this massive Champions Cup head-to-head.

What followed was the best part of two hours of suspense as the two best teams in Europe and in this competition emptied themselves.

Eighty try-less minutes in normal time and it was edge-of-the-seat stuff. You took your eye off the action at your peril.

Has there ever been a more exciting, more dramatic, more absorbing 80 minutes without the whitewash being crossed? What followed was mayhem, with fatigue and the respective replacement benches adding a different twist.

In terms of creativity and skill execution, it left a bit to be desired. It couldn’t be otherwise, given the guaranteed intensity, but this 2024 Champions Cup final was a game for the ages. Despite the result being in the balance right up to the second half of extra-time, it was the team in red that reached highest, scrambled widest and dug deepest in a truly epic encounter.

Toulouse were quickest out of the traps and ultimately lasted the pace the longest, despite being that man down in extra-time. The most striking aspect for me in the opening ten or so minutes was the French commitment at the breakdown, or more specifically their counter-rucking, although all credit to Leinster for quickly reassessing and committing more bodies to that area.

It didn’t entirely alleviate the problem and seldom have we seen a Leinster backline and its world-class scrum-half deprived of quick and clean ball. Toulouse had done their homework.

So much of the talk had been of Jacques Nienaber’s addition to the coaching staff. He is a massive defensive coaching capture and will continue in that vein but the harsh reality is that the Leinster attack has regressed in the transition.

There has to be a measured balance and, on Saturday’s evidence, Toulouse twigged the key to stopping Leinster in their attacking tracks, won that battle and with it the war. It wasn’t vintage Toulouse but it is a difficult balancing act with a balance still to be struck.

Speed

Aside from the speed of delivery (and it was still pretty slick in the claustrophobic circumstances) Jamison Gibson-Park was one of the best in blue on this ultra-frustrating day as the two outstanding scrum-halves in world rugby went head to head.

Gibson-Park was good but Antoine Dupont was off the charts. By common consent Gareth Edwards was the greatest number nine ever and while the nature of the game makes it difficult to compare players in

terms of overall value, he was arguably the greatest all-round player of his time and before.

With Dupont there is no debate. He ticks every possible box and in recent years has developed that left-footed clearance kick as another get-out option. He truly is a phenomenon and the most influential rugby player the game has seen to date. In the Spurs stadium on Saturday he walked on water.

From an Irish perspective, there were a number of good performances but nothing in the inspirational Dupont league or even remotely close.

Andrew Porter, Joe McCarthy, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw and both wings all had their moments.

Had Ciarán Frawley, who did well when he came on, landed that last-minute drop goal attempt in normal time, we would be having a different conversation.

The intensity was exhilarating, the physicality almost scary. There was little by way of attacking flair but we were treated to a classic of raw and competitive rugby at its best.

In the final analysis it was hunger and technique, the individual and collective reading in the moment at the breakdown, that won the day.

It is hard to imagine just how this multi-talented Leinster squad is feeling as they regroup and re-assess at Belfield this morning but one thing I guarantee is that they will be back bigger, better balanced and stronger than ever.