LET’S GET IT DONE!
Demolition of Toulouse leaves Leinster one step from f ifth star
LEINSTER stormed into the Heineken Champions Cup final with a stunning 40-17 demolition of Toulouse in Dublin yesterday – and Johnny Sexton has implored his team-mates to finish the job in Marseille on May 28.
The defending champions were put to the sword as the hosts ran riot, with James Lowe (twice), Josh van der Flier and Hugo Keenan all crossing for tries.
Leo Cullen’s side will face the winners of Racing 92 and La Rochelle in today’s other semi-final and, ahead of their first appearance in a European final since their loss to Saracens in 2019, Sexton wants his side to go one further.
‘It’s only half done,’ said the Leinster out-half. ‘The last time we were in a final against Saracens we got out-played. We’ve got to learn from that lesson and hopefully go one step further this year.’
JOHNNY Sexton is hungry for a fifth European title. It was evident in everything he did yesterday. The Leinster and Ireland outhalf is in the final chapters of a storied career, but he is enjoying these last few laps. Toulouse were simply overwhelmed by a rampant Leinster side in Dublin yesterday, and Sexton was at the heart of their comprehensive 40-17 win.
Only veteran prop Cian Healy and Sexton remain from the maiden Heineken Cup triumph in 2009.
Two more titles followed that on Joe Schmidt’s watch. The Leo Cullen/Stuart Lancaster coaching axis delivered the fourth in 2018, and a fifth looks on the cards in Marseille at the end of this month, but Sexton was taking nothing for granted.
‘I think it was good. We did some really good things,’ said the Leinster captain following yesterday’s four-try hammering of the French visitors.
‘What I was most pleased about was that we didn’t let the mistakes faze us. Going 7-3 down when we were dominating the first few minutes, we didn’t let that get on top of us and we just bounced back.
‘When they scored the try to make it a two-score game again, we bounced back again.
‘How we came back from the bad moments was probably what I was most pleased about. We did some good things and built on last week’s performance. We dug in last week, it wasn’t great in terms of how we used the ball but we built on it.
‘We need to be better again in the final because, at the end of the day, Toulouse played 100 minutes against Munster, had to travel home, had to travel here again. So we’ve got to take it with a pinch of salt. This isn’t where we wanted to get to. We want to win the final so we’ve achieved nothing yet.’
Putting the defending champions to the sword was a huge statement in this competition. Racing 92 and
La Rochelle will have taken note. Sexton was not getting lulled into a false sense of security, however.
For all of his side’s attacking brilliance yesterday, he conceded
Toulouse looked a little weary after their 100-minute thriller against Munster at the same venue last weekend.
‘We train hard, that’s one of the things we pride ourselves on.
Stuart works us hard during the week,’ Sexton noted.
‘But at the same time we knew that Toulouse played 100 minutes last week and the emotional game that they went through. I think Munster softened them up for us a little bit and they came here probably not at their best.
‘But we were close to it and we have to go again in the final because Racing and La Rochelle are two top quality sides. La Rochelle beat us last year and we’ve had tough battles with Racing over the years.’
This will be Leinster’s first appearance in a European final since their 2019 defeat by Saracens in Newcastle. The visitors left the city with many regrets after a 20-10 loss to the Londoners.
‘Small margins, wasn’t it,’ said Sexton, looking back on that loss at St James’s Park.
‘(We were) 10-3 up just before half-time, I made the decision to box-kick, last play of the game, we could have kicked it out and it was half-time but we wanted to go and put pressure on Saracens, to get another score, and conceded a penalty – 10-all at half-time and I think we let that get to us that day.
‘We came out after half-time and we had a couple of chances to score, a couple of decisions went against us and that’s the game. They score, we’re chasing against a team that love when you chase.
‘Very small margins, that’s what we live with in these finals and semi-finals and that’s something that you need to work hard to make sure you are on the right side of.
‘A lot of it is preparation and know-how and I think we need to use positive experiences.
We’ve been a champion team before, but also the Saracens final, what we could do better.
‘Because we’d love to go back, in sport you don’t get a chance. Now we’ve got another chance. I never thought that I’d get another chance, so it’s great, and we are so driven to put a fifth star on the jersey and every single person in the dressing room, staff – guys who were playing, guys who weren’t playing are really driven. It’s a special environment to be part of.’
It’s hard to believe that Sexton will be 37 in July. The Leinster No10 continues to put in big shifts for club and country.
Maybe his plans to make the 2023 World Cup are not so wild after all? He is clearly still enjoying it.
‘Yeah, incredibly so, two environments that I’m lucky to be part of, in Leinster and Ireland,’ he added.
‘That’s why I’m still playing, because I absolutely love coming in every day with these guys and the management in both camps. I’m still loving it and hopefully proving my worth.’
We want to win the final, so we have achieved nothing yet