The Leinster players fell to the floor, battered, beaten, broken. For a third year in a row , the Dubliners had come up short on European rugby’s biggest stage, edged once again by French opposition. Around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Toulouse fans bounced and barked their tunes of triumph, joined in the thralls of victory by those of their exhausted heroes still left able to stand.
This competition has seen plenty of fabulous finals over the decades but never anything quite like this. Over 100 nerve-shredding minutes, these two contested one of the great games, a battle of brutal, brilliant beauty. It took extra time to split the two European heavyweights , inseparable over eighty minutes and delivering an occasion befitting the grandeur that the Investec Champions Cup still carries.
It was an affair contested of a ferocity to shake the foundations of this grandiose, gleaming ground, jumping throughout with nary a spare seat in sight. Their contrasting styles were always likely to create a captivating fight, Leinster prepared to jab away and stay the distance, their opponents picking their rounds to try and deal a knockout blow. That eventually came in the additional period, three Thomas Ramos penalties the difference even with Toulouse down to 14 players at the end.
Again, Leinster are left to reflect on a chance to confirm their greatness missed. Leo Cullen and co have cultivated an outstanding side and system, a team so regularly peerless in both the United Rugby.