European Cup Quarter Final/ Toulouse 35 Leinster 41: The Leinster dressingroom floor was festooned with discarded tape, bandaging, jerseys, shorts, socks and boots, the detritus of the sport. Bottles were strewn across the floor, the silence in marked contrast to the maelstrom, physical and emotional, that had prevailed for the previous two hours at Le Stadium in Toulouse.
Coach Michael Cheika spoke of the pride he felt at what the players had achieved in Saturday's Heineken European Cup quarter-final. His delivery was calm and measured before a hushed audience rather than emotional but his words were emotive nonetheless.
It was the second time that afternoon the Leinster players listened to a single voice. In the pre-match huddle, captain Brian O'Driscoll was animated and passionate, telling them that in the big matches, players who aspire to be the best invariably stand up to be counted. His team-mates responded in glorious fashion to dethrone the reigning European champions.
It was not simply the victory alone these Leinster players and supporters will cherish for a lifetime but the manner in which they accomplished that goal.
Toulouse frequently court rugby perfection in performance terms, coruscating forward power combining with athleticism, deft handling, raw pace and sublime angles of running. Leinster mimicked that brio in the French citadel.
It was cavalier at times, giddily illustrated by one cameo. Felipe Contepomi chipped with the outside of his boot when faced by three defenders deep inside his own 22, a training ground party-piece for most that would never be dusted off in a match situation.
Leinster's Argentinian outhalf's audacity would probably have been rewarded with another slashing break but for an inadvertentl trip by the trailing leg of a Toulouse player. He still managed to semi-rescue the situation.
Contepomi was magnificent, not alone a visionary but possessing the competitive ferocity and sang froid of the most ruthless predator. Once again the catalyst, he unleashed the Leinster backline to telling effect: architect and artisan in equal measure. He had many acolytes in a backline that trumped their counterparts. His artistry was exemplified in two of Leinster's tries, the first a homily to training ground precision. Contepomi's inside pass and Shane Horgan's beautifully timed run and strength in contact breached the first line of defence, the Argentinean taking a return pass.
As the Toulouse scramble defence converged, O'Driscoll chose an exquisite line to appear on his shoulder and scamper clear, racing under the posts. The second was down to vision, Contepomi electing to release Denis Hickie inside the Leinster 22.
The wing accelerated outside the first line of cover, glided around Yannick Bru and Fabien Pelous, linked with the supporting Gordon D'Arcy and showed strength and pace to score in the corner. It was a gem, a graphic illustration of what the backline is capable of collectively.
Individually they excelled, Girvan Dempsey solid and providing the score pass for Horgan's try, the latter wonderfully athletic in chasing or receiving kick-offs and taking his try with a poacher's opportunism.
O'Driscoll, apart from the try, put in a couple of thunderous, all-enveloping tackles that saved tries, D'Arcy was no less abrasive in defence.
Hickie was decisive in possession and put in a crunching early tackle that welcomed Florian Fritz to the match, while Guy Easterby simply maintained his voracious work-rate and unstinting team ethic. If Contepomi was shining light behind the scrum, then flanker Keith Gleeson was every bit as effective, turning in a brilliant display.
He coursed the Toulouse players relentlessly, none more so than Freddie Michalak, forcing the Toulouse outhalf into a catastrophic mistake that pre-empted Cameron Jowitt's try. Gleeson won ball on the ground, made tackles, supported ball carriers and ultimately led the Leinster defensive line to perfection. Toulouse's brace of tries were nothing more than a consolation.
Leinster's pack is much maligned but they tweaked the scrum intelligently once that aspect of the game settled down following a spate of early penalties, prevailed in the lineout duel and lost nothing in comparison against vaunted opponents.
Reggie Corrigan and Will Green worked tirelessly, Brian Blaney, too, while Malcolm O'Kelly and Bryce Williams pinched a few balls, the former crucially on one occasion and still found time to charge down a kick or two.
But it was the backrow that will earn the most kudos, Jowitt, Gleeson and a superb performance from the young Jamie Heaslip, a unit whose skills complemented each other beautifully.
Toulouse demonstrated character, as befits champions, in never giving up but they simply found themselves pitted against a superior force on the afternoon. Trevor Brennan was called ashore early and apart from the exceptional Yannick Nyanga, the French pack rarely managed continuity of possession to unleash their backs.
Jean Baptiste Ellisalde gave a blemish-free, kicking masterclass. Yannick Jauzion was well marshalled, Fritz ran powerfully with fullback Clement Poitrenaud their most elusive runner. Michalak departed prematurely to a deafening chorus of boos. Leinster led 19-9 at the break O'Driscoll's try separating the sides after Ellisalde's and Contepomi's kicking duel.
Toulouse rallied ominously in the opening 10 minutes after the break, Ellisalde tagging on a couple of penalties with Michalak dropping a goal. It was the latter's misplaced pass under pressure from Gleeson that gifted Jowitt a try.
From there Leinster simply found another gear - O'Kelly's lineout steal denying Toulouse a route back into the game when it was still a contest - tries from Hickie and Horgan taking them out of sight. The home side did rally with a brace of late tries but the significance was cosmetic.
A little bit of Toulouse will be forever blue.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: Ellisalde pen, 3-0; 7: Contepomi pen, 3-3; 10: Ellisalde pen, 6-3; 14: Contepomi pen, 6-6; 18: Contepomi pen, 6-9; 25: O'Driscoll try, Contepomi con, 6-16; 30: Ellisalde pen, 9-16; 36: Contepomi pen, 9-19. Half-time: 9-19. 42: Ellisalde pen, 12-19; 48: Ellisalde pen, 15-19; 51: Michalak dp gl, 18-19; 57: Jowitt try, Contepomi con, 18-26; 62: Ellisalde pen, 21-26; 65: Hickie try, 21-31; 73: Horgan try, Contepomi con, 21-38; 75: Contepomi pen, 21-41; 83: Nyanga try, Ellisalde con, 28-41; 91: Jauzion try, Ellisalde con, 35-41.
TOULOUSE: C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, C Heymans; F Michalak, JB Ellisalde; JP Poux, Y Bru, O Hasan; F Pelous, T Brennan; Y Nyanga, J Bouilhou, I Maka. Replacements: R Millo-Chluski for Brennan (49 mins); G Lamboley for Bouilhou (66 mins); JF Dubois for Michalak (73 mins); G Menkarska for Hasan, M Kunavore for Fritz (both 76 mins); V Lacombe for Bru (79 mins); M Medard for Poitrenaud (84 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; F Contepomi, G Easterby; R Corrigan, B Blaney, W Green; M O'Kelly, B Williams; C Jowitt, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: D Blaney, R McCormack, E Miller, N Ronan, B O'Riordan, K Lewis, R Kearney. Replacements: R McCormack for Corrigan (56 mins); E Miller for Jowitt (66 mins); R Kearney for D'Arcy (81 mins); K Lewis for O'Driscoll (86 mins).
Referee: D Pearson (England).
Toulouse reaction
"There was a lack of concentration at times and we lost our way and made mistakes. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and it proved insurmountable. I want to be responsible for the result and I am not going to say, like many coaches, that it was the fault of one person or another. I will keep my criticism for the players. Leinster were very good and we were very bad."
- Guy Noves (coach)
"They were opportunists. We were maybe a little overconfident and they fed off our errors, our turnovers. We lacked control. We didn't take the chances when we were dominating the game. We weren't too worried at half-time but when they went 20 points up it became mission impossible."
-Yannick Jauzion (centre)
"It was our errors and lack of control that cost us the game. There were certain times in the match, like the beginning when I felt Leinster were there for the taking. Leinster took their opportunities and defended very well."
- Yannick Bru (hooker)
