Champions Cup final thread

TNT have Jack Willis for forty one (41) tackles. That is absurd

Leinster were genuinely unlucky with that call. It looks as if it's a foot that causes it to roll forward and McCarthy didn't even touch it. Andy McGeady has a clip of it on twitter. 'Knock on' seems to have been a Piardi call from the touchline.

The time McCarthy touched down in the first half looks to have been from a rip instead of a knock on, so that should have stood - caveat being I only saw a replay once.

How unlucky is it to get two misinterpretations from officials in the phase tries are scored in?

Please stop. You are embarrassing yourself at this point.

It was a clear knock-on by the Toulouse player in the first half that at least warranted a penalty kick. Just because the ball happened to roll backwards into touch from where it landed doesn't negate the fact it went forward off his hand. His hand from his only arm that went for the ball. I have no idea where Carley came up with the regather justification considering the player never had possession of the ball in the first place. For what it's worth the James Lowe knock-on was a stone-cold yellow for me as well.

The VDF no-call for a headlock was one of the most egregious no-calls from a ref/TMO I have ever seen. The Toulouse player clearly had his right arm/forearm around his neck. It happened right in front of Carley and he should have called it. When he missed it his TMO should have come in.

I don't think any of these decisions singularly affected the overall result. I don't think the performance of the referees affected the result either and Leinster truly only have themselves to blame. But to say it wasn't a knock-on by Toulouse and that there was no headlock on VDF is laughable and should be considered a poor effort at trolling at best.

Nothing sad about it. This happens for all kinds of reasons.

I watched the incident regarding the Toulouse knock on again. It went forward in relation to the player, but not forward towards the opposition line, so it wasn't a knock-on. That said, refs often call any loss of control as a knock-on, so I can see why people would feel aggrieved.

The Lowe incident was unquestionable, though. Stupid play to go for.

1. Clear arm around JdF neck as he is carried over the line. Peno Leinster.
2. Ball ripped. McCarthy over the line. Try time.
3. Sheehan over the ball. Looks at Carley with a 'WTF do u want me to get the JCB out as well' expression on his face.
4. Very not sure saw a glimpse on replay. Looks like Kinghorne led with a elbow in a dangerous position with Frawley flying in just prior to tls try. TMO
5. Just before the scrum peno to level in normal time. Ntamack knocks on tries to regather and fails. leinster ruck through. Whilst on the ground Ntamack plays the ball on the ground. Carley only gives scrum. Peno.
6. Sheehan makes a break. 5 yards from line. As he is falling Dupont has his hands on Sheehans back. Clear tackle assist. Peno.
7. Intentional or not. Slap or not. 1st half Sheehan pass inside. Peno and possible yellow.

Carley has a lot of questions to answer. Definitely affected the result.

Leinster not having the star power to complete with top teams? Just trash talk tbh. 

Yeah. Toulouse just look faster, stronger and more skilled. Leinster are well coached, well conditioned athletes, but Toulouse are just better rugby players who know how to win big games. Guys like Ross Byrne and Caelan Doris wouldn't even get academy contracts at Toulouse.

I tend to 'make my day' on useful purposes. Life is far too short for 'despise' and hatred.

What a sad way to live, despising other teams, but each to their own.

Lol if you say so 😂

How will your day go next week?

Looks like sour grapes and 7 reasons to call you a waaahmbulance tbh. Give it up

Would you have felt the same if a blue jersey lifted the trophy yestersday?

A few from yesterday's game, with ball in hand Toulouse stressed Leinster more than the other way round. On a few occasions where the Leinster defense had totally slowed Toulouse attacks to where they were going nowhere Dupont played a brilliant kick to re energize his team.

Larmour regathered a couple of kick chases in a row, which swung momentum Leinster's way, but in the second half of extra time the same type of kicks were being gobbled up by Toulouse, giving them the momentum.

Leinster's continual kick to the corner and maul looked like shocking decision making. Fine, if you kick you're three points you're back receiving in your own 22 and start again, but going to the maul each time? that seemed to double down on daft.

Finally Leinster are looking like a team with a very moderate backline. They score lots of tries throughout the season, but that's generally on the back of forward dominance. They don't appear to have any strike moves anymore. Ross Byrne did some very good things yesterday, but he simply cannot run. Where he is completely lost is in broken play, his ability to turn or adjust his feet is really poor.

Leinster not addressing their outhalf issue for so long is amazing. Sexton was so good to run the ball, with Leinster and Ireland there were pods and shielded passes, links and loops, all the time keeping opposition defenders fixed and stressed, yesterday the two centres running into contract and Leinster struggling to retain possession. A few times Leinster moved the ball across the field they hardly ever looked capable of finding a gap.

I suspect in their post mortem the breakdown and the inability to create quick ball from it will be the biggest issue. When Toulouse slowed stopped Leinster attacks Leinster looked one paced, when Leinster slowed stopped Toulouse attacks Dupont did something special. He really was amazing.